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IC-NRLF 


SB    IDS    133 


HMB 


THE 


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l intents  o/^ 
PEPPEI^LL  MANUFACTURING  CO 


GIFT  OF 


THE  ROMANCE 
OF    PEPPERELL 


/T BRIEF  ACCOUNT  OF  HOW  A 
^*  GREAT  INDUSTRY  DEVEL- 
OPED AT  BIDDEFORD  TOGETHER 
WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS  SHOWING 
HOW  PEPPERELL  WIDE  SHEETINGS 
AND  PILLOW  TUBINGS  ARE  MADE 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE 

PEPPERELL  MANUFACTURING  Co. 


BIDDEFORD 
MAINE 


COPYRIGHT  1921 

BY    THE 

PEPPERELL  MANUFACTURING  CO. 
BIDDEFORD,  MAINE 


U'rittrn,  desired,  and  Printed 

by  direction  of 

Walton  Advertising  and  Printing  Co. 
Boston,  Mass. 


fir 

fa 


FOREWORD 


It  gives  us  pleasure  to  present  to  you  "The  Romance  of  Pepper- 
ell,"  which  we  hope  will  be  of  interest  to  you  and  your  family. 
Romance  is  always  interesting  whether  it  deals  with  individuals  or 
things.  Inasmuch  as  there  is  much  of  romance  in  the  history  of  the 
Pepperell  Mills,  the  management  believes  that  this  history,  embodied 
in  an  attractive  form,  will  prove  worthy  of  perusal  by  those  already 
familiar  with  Pepperell  Sheeting  and  will  not  be  uninteresting  to 
those  to  whom  Pepperell  products  are  little  known. 

An  effort  has  here  been  made  to  sketch  briefly  how  the  industry 
came  to  be  and,  by  means  of  illustrations,  to  show  some  of  the  mar- 
velous mechanical  processes  that  are  used  in  the  production  of  Pep- 
perell Sheeting. 

The  romance  begins  far  back  in  Colonial  times  when  fearless  and 
independent  men  and  women  were  settling  New  England,  taming  a 
primeval  wilderness  and  meeting  the  attacks  of  enemies,  both  savage 
and  civilized.  It  tells  you  about  the  interesting  courtship  of  Sir 
William  Pepperrell,  what  he  did  for  early  New  England,  and  how 
he  captured  the  great  French  fortress  at  Louisburg,  Nova  Scotia. 
It  narrates  how  he  started  the  early  industries  on  the  Saco  River  at 
Biddeford,  Maine,  where  now  are  located  the  mills  of  the  Pepper- 
ell Manufacturing  Company,  pictures  the  quaint  and  crude  ways  in 
which  our  great  grandmothers  spun  and  wove,  and  shows  by  its 
modern  illustrations  the  present  methods  which  have  taken  the  place 
of  the  primitive  ways  of  the  past. 

\Ve  feel  sure  after  you  have  read  this  that  you  will  have  a  more 
intimate  acquaintance  with  the  great  mills  of  the  Pepperell  Manu- 
facturing Company  and  perhaps  will  want  to  know  more  of  the 
products  which  to-day  are  made  by  them.  In  addition  to  sheeting 
they  manufacture  many  other  varieties  of  cotton  goods,  all  ob- 
tainable under  the  Pepperell  trade-mark  and  ticket.  The  annual 
output  of  their  looms,  placed  end  to  end,  is  sufficiently  great  to  go 
nearly  one  and  one-half  times  around  the  earth  at  the  equator. 
Pepperell  products  are  known  to  every  retailer  in  the  United  States. 

The  Company  wishes  to  thank  the  following  for  their  assistance 
in  the  preparation  of  this  volume: 

Mr.  G.  D.  Harrison,  Mr.  Burton  H.  Winslow,  Mr.  Thomas 
L.  Evans,  Judge  George  Addison  Emery,  Mr.  John  Haley,  Mr.  Frank 
C.  Deering,  Mrs.  Miriam  Mitchell.  We  are  also  indebted  to  "The 
Story  of  Textiles"  for  data  relating  to  the  early  methods  of  spinning 
and  weaving,  and  to  the  Draper  Company  for  permission  to  use 
their  cut.  r?> 

456506 


<,>->.  .  ,•«•  ,„ 

^   ','.•;>:<,• 

,  v. 


The  ROMANCE  of 
PEPPERELL 


BOUT  the  Pepperell  Mills  lingers  the  glamour  of 
romance.  Its  very  site  was  once  owned  by  that 
"mighty  man  of  Kittery,"  Sir  William  Pepperrell, 
whose  valiant  conquest  of  the  strong  fortress  of 
Louisburg  forms  a  most  thrilling  chapter  in  our 
Colonial  history.  At  one  time  a  large  piece  of  the 
land  in  the  neighborhood  of  Biddeford  was  owned 
by  Sir  William.  Across  the  river,  a  short  distance  away,  was 
located  the  garrison  house  which  he  and  his  business  associates  built 
to  protect  his  mills  from  the  Indians.  To  Kittery  Point,  not  far 
from  here,  Sir  William,  who  was  as  redoubtable  a  lover  as  he  was  a 
conqueror,  took  his  young  bride  whom  he  had  wooed  and  won 
from  many  suitors  in  Boston  town. 

Few  places  are  so  rich  in  fact  and  tradition  as  Biddeford,  the 
town  upon  the  Saco*  River,  where  now  loom  so  impressively  the  ex- 
tensive buildings  of  the  Pepperell  Mills.  Here  where  their  brick  walls 
glow  red  in  the  sunlight,  once  stood  the  old  stone  fort  built  by  the 
colonists  during  the  troublesome  times  of  the  Indian  wars.  On 
"Factory  Island,"  known  for  years  as  "Indian  Island,"  were  the 
dwelling  places  of  the  Indian  sagamores  of  Colonial  days,  and  here 
and  there  in  the  town  and  in  its  neighborhood  are  places  of  historical 
interest  recalling  thrilling  incidents  of  the  French  and  English  warfare. 
Is  it  not  fitting,  therefore,  that  any  story  of  the  extensive  sheet- 
ing industry  on  the  Saco,  which  sends  its  millions  of  yards  of  finished 
products  to  every  nook  and  corner  of  the  world,  should  begin  with 
the  romantic  story  of  Sir  William  Pepperrell  whose  name  has  been 
given  to  the  mills?  And  is  it  not  quite  as  appropriate  that  the 

*Pronounced  "Sawco"  - 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


compiler  should  linger  for  a  while  over  the  historic  events  of  Colonial 
history,  in  which  Biddeford  and  Sir  William  Pepperrell  have  filled 
so  important  a  place? 

Till     "MIGHTY  MAN  OF  KITTERY"  AND  MAID  MARY 

Whether  he  \\ere  battering  at  the  mighty  fortress  of  Louisburg, 
or  besieging  the  mysterious  heart  of  a  woman,  the  line  of  attack 
pursued  by  that  "mighty  man  of  Kittery,"  Sir  William  Pepperrell, 
was  much  the  same.  His  methods  were  characterized  by  infinite 
caution,  sound  judgment,  strong  resolution  and  due  regard  to 
ail. 

So  it  happened  that,  when  on  one  of  his  trips  to  Boston  to  attend 
to  matters  pertaining  to  the  great  mercantile  firm  of  Pepperrell 
and  Son,  young  William  met  the  fascinating  Mary  Hirst,  grand- 
daughter of  Judge  Sewall  of  the  Supreme  Court,  he  decided  after 
due  consideration  that  she  should  become  Lady  Pepperrell.  Not 
only  was  she  a  member  of  a  distinguished  Boston  family,  but  she 
possessed  those  practical,  domestic  virtues  which  would  admirably 
fit  her  to  preside  over  his  household.  He  took  no  chances  of  winning 
his  suit  solely  on  the  merits  of  his  engaging  personality  and  polished 
manners,  of  which  he  could  not  have  been  wholly  unconscious,  nor 
upon  the  fact  that  he  was  heir  to  a  vast  fortune;  but  he  presented 
the  young  lady  with  gold  rings,  a  large  hoop  for  her  skirt  and 
numerous  other  gifts  of  considerable  value,  designed  to  impress 
upon  her  the  extent  and  sincerity  of  his  affection. 

It   was  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  a  girl  as  charming  as  Miss 
Mary   should   have   had   other  suitors.      She   frequently   visited   at 
•me  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Moody  of  York,  whose  wife,  a  Hirst 
her  marriage,   was   Mary's   aunt.      It   is   recorded   that   the 
"inpletely  bewildered  by  the  attractions  of  the 
lady.     Certainly  he  looked  with  no  favorable  eye  upon  the 
Between  Mary  and  W7illiam,  but  he  was  helpless 
interfere.      In   a   remarkably   short  space  of  time,   due  possibly 
the  gold  rings  and  the  hoop,  young  William  succeeded  in  winning 
ttle  lady's  affections;  and  on  the  sixteenth  of  March,    1723, 
.en   he  was   twenty-seven   years  of  age,   he  led   her  to  the  altar! 
om   all   accounts  William   Pepperrell  was   greatly  to  be  con- 
gratulated, for  his  young  wife  received  much  praise  for  her  "natural 


and   acquired   powers,   for  brilliant  wit  and  sweetness  of  temper" 
are  told  that  she  proved  a  most  excellent  wife,  "but  was  a  very 
*oman   with   small   intellect."     The  description   referring  to 

her     mf»-  \\fr-t     c«.«r>i.-     -«»U-  •  i 


-o^j  I^LI^H    iciciinitr     LU 

I1Udl<  rather   unJust,   and   is   wholly   unsubstantiated 

'Is. 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


It  is  said  that  at  the  time  of  her  marriage  her  father  wrote  her 
a  letter  containing  much  valuable  advice  for  young  married  ladies. 
In  this  letter  she  is  charged  never  to  work  one  moment  after  sunset 
on  Saturday  evening  and  never  to  lay  aside  her  knitting  without  its 
being  in  the  middle  of  the  needle;  always  to  rise  with  the  sun,  to 
pass  an  hour  every  day  with  her  housekeeper;  to  visit  every  depart- 
ment from  garret  to  cellar,  to  attend  to  the  brewing  of  her  beer, 
the  baking  of  her  bread,  and  to  instruct  every  member  of  her  house- 
hold in  their  religious  duties.  If  she  adhered  strictly  to  these  rules, 
it  is  hardly  to  be  wondered  at  that  she  had  little  time  to  exercise 
her  intellect. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  Lady  Pepperrell  never  regretted  her  choice 
of  husband,  for  Sir  William  Pepperrell  stands  out  as  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  men  of  pre-Revolutionary  days,  and  any  woman 
might  well  be  proud  to  bear  his  name.  Not  only  did  his  native 
colony  bestow  upon  him  the  greatest  gift  within  its  power,  that  of 
President  of  the  Council,  but  he  received  from  the  British  Govern- 
ment the  highest  honors  conferred  upon  a  colonist  before  the 
Revolution,  for  he  was  made  a  baronet,  and  a  colonel  in  the  British 
regular  army  and  was  promoted  by  successive  grades  to  the  rank 
of  lieutenant-general  in  that  army. 

His  rise  to  fame  and  prosperity  is  all  the  more  remarkable  when 
one  considers  the  humble  beginning  of  the  Pepperrell  family  in  this 
country.  The  father  of  Sir  William  had  come  to  America  from 
\Vales,  when  he  was  twenty-two  years  of  age.  He  arrived  at  the 
Isle  of  Shoals  without  a  shilling  in  his  pocket.  At  first  he  engaged 
in  the  occupation  of  fishing,  which  in  time  led  to  the  boat-building 
industry.  The  latter  pursuit  took  him  frequently  to  Kittery  Point, 
Maine,  where  he  met  John  Bray,  the  pioneer  ship  builder  at  Kittery, 
and  incidentally  his  pretty  young  daughter,  Margery,  who  was  at 
that  time  sixteen  years  of  age.  Now  Mr.  Bray  was  much  interested 
in  the  young  man,  but  not  to  the  extent  of  giving  him  his  daughter 
for  a  wife,  for  young  Pepperrell  had  not  been  slow  in  making  known 
his  aspirations  along  that  line.  After  the  lapse  of  a  few  years,  how- 
ever, when  Margery  had  reached  a  more  suitable  age,  and  Pepperrell 
had  given  evidence  of  his  remarkable  ability,  the  father  readily 
consented  to  their  marriage.  He  bestowed  upon  the  young  couple 
his  blessing — also  a  large  tract  of  land  adjoining  his  own  farm  at 
Kittery  Point.  On  this  land  was  erected  the  famous  old  Pepperrell 
mansion  where  Sir  William,  sixth  of  the  eight  children  of  the  elder 
William  Pepperrell,  was  born  on  the  twenty-seventh  of  June,  1696. 

Those  were  stirring  times,  for  King  William's  War  was  raging, 
and  on  every  side  were  being  enacted  scenes  of  horror  and  tragedy. 
Danger  lurked  in  the  very  air.  Held  close  in  his  mother's  arms,  the 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


boy  must  frequently  have  heard  the  grown  people  discuss  with  bated 
breath  the  Indian  massacres  and  outrages  which  occurred  during 
those  troublesome  times.  At  Rye,  then  known  as  Sandy  Beach, 
only  a  few  miles  away,  twenty-one  people  were  killed  or  taken  captive 
during  one  raid,  and  later  four  were  captured,  fourteen  killed  and 
the  entire  village  burned.  A  neighbor  and  intimate  friend  of  the 
Pepperrell  family,  Major  Charles  Frost,  was  waylaid  and  shot  wrhile 
returning  from  church.  Mrs.  Ursula  Cutts,  a  dear  friend  of  Mrs. 
Pepperrell,  was  tomahawked  and  scalped  with  a  number  of  others 
while  she  was  waiting  for  the  Waldron  family  to  arrive  for  the  dinner 
she  had  just  prepared,  which  was  ready  and  waiting  upon  the  table. 
No  one  knew  where  the  blow  would  fall  next. 

For  three  years  after  Sir  William  was  born  the  wrar  continued 
to  rage,  then  after  an  interval  of  four  years  was  renewed  and  lasted 
until  1713,  so  that  thirteen  out  of  the  first  seventeen  years  of  his 
life  were  spent  amid  the  perils  and  dangers  of  Indian  warfare.  It 
was  not  strange  that  there  should  be  awakened  in  his  boyish  heart 
a  longing  for  daring  deeds  of  heroism.  It  would  seem  that  from  his 
very  cradle  he  was  being  prepared  for  that  brilliant  exploit  —  the 
capture  of  Louisburg.  With  what  thrills  of  delight  he  would  watch 
the  military  drills  of  his  father's  company,  when  he  was  a  boy,  and 
listen  to  the  thundering  of  the  cannon  at  the  fort  and  at  Great 
Island!  When  he  was  but  sixteen  he  bore  arms  in  patrol  duty  and 
in  keeping  watch  and  ward. 

Like  most  of  the  young  men  of  that  time,  Sir  William's  early 
education  consisted  of  little  more  than  an  elementary  training  in 
"reading,  writing  and  'rithmetic."  His  father,  however,  secured  for 
him  an  instructor  who  taught  him  surveying  and  navigation,  two 
very  important  branches  of  knowledge  for  a  colonist  and  ship  owner. 
Constant  activity  in  the  open  air,  voyages  on  the  sea  and  exploration 
in  the  Maine  wroods  where  he  had  many  an  encounter  with  hostile 
Indians  developed  in  him  a  superb  physical  strength  and  endurance. 

Gradually  the  Pepperrells  extended  their  business  activities 
until  they  possessed  the  largest  mercantile  firm  in  he  new  world 
and  had  amassed  a  princely  fortune.  Their  warehouses  were  filled 
\vith  fish  from  the  Banks  o.  Newfoundland;  with  sugar  and  molasses 
from  the  West  Indies;  hemp,  iron,  linen  and  silk  from  Great  Britain; 
and  with  naval  stores  from  the  Carolinas.  They  had  over  a  hundred 
vessels  engaged  in  fishing  and  in  foreign  trade,  and  the  name  and 
pennant  of  the  firm  were  to  be  seen  in  London  and  Bristol,  in 
Havana  and  at  Charleston,  in  Wilmington  and  Boston.  Part  of 
their  rapidly  increasing  fortune  was  invested  in  large  tracts  of  land 
in  Maine,  which  afforded  lumber  for  their  ship-building  enter- 
prise, one  of  the  chief  sources  of  their  wealth.  When  Andrew,  Sir 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


William's  only  brother,  died,  the  firm  name  was  changed  from  William 
Pepperrell  &  Son  to  William  Pepperrells.  Young  William  made  a 
valuable  partner  in  the  enterprise  and  did  much  toward  extending 
its  sphere  of  business.  When  he  was  n  his  early  twenties  he  estab- 
lished a  branch  of  the  house  in  Boston.  While  conducting  this  end 
of  the  firm's  activities,  he  formed  many  intimate  acquaintances 
with  public  men  in  Boston,  was  introduced  into  the  best  society  and 
acquired  those  courtly  manners  and  the  pleasing  address  for  which 
he  became  so  distinguished. 

It  was  only  to  be  expected  that  a  man  of  his  personality  and 
ability  should  take  a  prominent  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  colony. 
He  was  but  twenty-one  when  he  was  commissioned  captain  of  a 
company  of  infantry,  and  not  long  after  was  promoted  to  the  rank 
of  major  and  lieutenant-colonel.  At  the  age  of  thirty  he  was  chosen 
representative  from  Kittery  to  the  Massachusetts  Legislature,  and 
during  the  same  year  was  made  a  colonel,  which  placed  him  in 
command  of  all  the  militia  of  Maine.  The  following  year  he  was 
appointed  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Council  by  Governor 
Belcher.  In  1730  the  Governor  appointed  him  Chief  Justice  of  the 
C<>urt  of  Common  Pleas  for  Maine,  an  office  which  he  held  until 
his  death.  Undaunted  by  his  lack  of  education  for  such  a  position, 
Pepperrell  immediately  sent  to  London  for  a  law  library.  It  is 
said  of  him  by  his  eulogist,  Rev.  Dr.  Stevens,  that:  "being  intrusted 
with  the  execution  of  the  laws,  he  distributed  justice  with  equity 
and  impartiality.  And  though  he  was  not  insensible  of  the  necessity 
of  discountenancing  vice  by  proper  punishments,  yet  the  humanity 
of  his  temper  disposed  him  to  make  all  those  allowances  which  might 
be  alleged  in  extenuation  of  the  fault." 

'IHl    CONQUEST  OF  LOUISBURG 

In  the  very  midst  of  his  public  and  private  activities,  when  he 

was  heavily  pressed  by  the  cares  and  anxieties  attending  his  numer- 

as  well  as  the  management  of  the  great  mercantile  firm 

which  he  had  fallen  heir  upon  the  death  of  his  father,  Colonel 

Pepperell  was  called  upon  to  lay  aside  his  cash  book  and  ledger  and 

:imand  of  the  Colonial  forces  in  the  expedition  against  Louis- 

The  American  Colonies  had  been  watching  with  much  interest 

iety  the  progress  of  the  war  between  England  and  Spain- 

the  tortunes  of  battle  seemed  to  be  favoring  the  English 

i-  apprehension  became  general  that  Spain  would  seek,  and  doubt- 

am,  an  alliance  with  France,  and  that  the  Colonies  would 

into  the  conflict.     Nor  was  the  fear  unfounded!     In  17^ 

lOf   Shirley   received   dispatches   from   England,   stating   that 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


in  all  probability  war  would  soon  be  declared.  In  October  of  that 
year  he  informed  Colonel  Pepperrell  of  the  state  of  affairs  and 
instructed  him  to  prepare  the  frontier  for  war  immediately.  The 
Colonel  at  once  sent  orders  to  this  effect  to  his  officers,  adding  to 
his  letters  of  instruction  the  following  message:  "I  hope  that  He 
who  gave  us  our  breath  will  give  us  the  courage  and  prudence  to 
behave  ourselves  like  true-born  Englishmen." 

In  March  of  the  following  year  war  was  declared  by  the  French, 
and  hostilities  immediately  commenced  in  Nova  Scotia.  On  the 
island  of  Cape  Breton,  which  with  the  island  of  Newfoundland 
guarded  the  entrance  to  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  French  had  erected 
the  mighty  citadel  of  Louisburg,  named  for  King  Louis,  the  Magnifi- 
cent. Five  millions  of  dollars  had  been  expended  and  twenty-five 
years  consumed  in  the  construction  of  the  city  and  fort.  A  solid 
stone  rampart,  two  and  a  half  miles  in  circumference,  surrounded 
the  citadel.  At  the  fortress  were  one  hundred  and  one  cannon, 
seventy-six  swivels  and  six  mortars.  The  capacious  harbor  which 
afforded  a  safe  anchorage  for  the  French  men-of-war,  a  place  of 
refuge  for  their  merchantmen  and  fishing  vessels  and  a  convenient 
gathering  place  for  their  privateers,  was  defended  by  an  island 
battery  of  thirty-two  "twenty-two  pounders"  and  a  royal  battery 
of  fifty  cannon  on  the  shore,  with  a  moat  and  bastion  so  perfect 
that  it  is  said,  "They  thought  two  hundred  men  could  defend  it 
against  a  thousand."  The  garrison  of  sixteen  hundred  men  was  a 
constant  menace  to  the  Colonies.  The  fort  itself  was  a  depot  for 
the  war  supplies  of  all  the  French  armies  in  Canada.  Clearly  Louis- 
burg  must  be  captured,  but  how?  At  its  winter  session,  the  Legisla- 
ture of  the  New  England  Colonies  discussed  plans  of  action.  That 
no  suspicion  of  these  plans  should  reach  the  French,  the  Legislature 
had  been  laid  under  a  strict  oath  of  secrecy  during  their  deliberations. 
One  of  its  members,  however — a  pious  old  deacon — was  overheard 
at  his  private  devotions  invoking  God's  blessing  upon  the  enter- 
prise, and  so  the  affair  leaked  out.  After  considerable  opposition, 
and  much  discussion,  the  expedition  was  finally  decided  upon,  and 
once  the  decision  was  made,  the  people  became  enthusiastic  in  its 
support. 

Now  remained  the  difficult  task  of  securing  a  commander  for 
the  expedition.  A  long  period  of  peace  had  brought  about  a  dearth 
of  officers  experienced  in  difficult  military  manoeuvres;  but  there 
was  one  man  whose  training  in  the  border  wars  with  the  Indians, 
and  whose  remarkable  ability  for  making  a  success  of  any  venture, 
however  difficult  or  foreign  to  his  experience,  had  won  the  confidence 
of  the  people  as  had  no  other  in  the  entire  colony,  and  that  was 
Colonel  William  Pepperrell.  He  was  unanimously  chosen  for  the 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


position,  and  was  officially  appointed  by  Governor  Shirley.  Would 
he  accept?  At  first  he  was  reluctant.  His  beloved  wife  was  ill, 
and  his  business  in  an  unsettled  state.  The  success  of  the  venture 
was  exceedingly  doubtful.  With  his  characteristic  caution,  he  care- 
fully considered  the  matter.  The  famous  preacher,  George  White- 
field,  who  was  on  one  of  his  missionary  expeditions  through  New 
Knulaiul,  was  at  that  time  a  guest  at  the  Colonel's  home;  and  when 
consulted  by  Pepperrell  in  regard  to  the  affair,  he  said:  "I  do  not 
think  the  scheme  very  promising;  if  you  take  the  appointment  the 
M  of  all  the  world  will  be  upon  you;  if  you  do  not  succeed,  the 
widows  and  orphans  of  the  slain  will  reproach  you.  If  you  do 
Micceed,  many  will  regard  you  with  envy,  and  endeavor  to  eclipse 
your  glory.  You  ought,  therefore,  if  you  go  at  all,  to  go  with  a 
single  eye,  and  you  will  find  your  strength  proportioned  to  your 
neces 

Convinced  at  last  that  his  country  depended  upon  him  in  this 
hour  of  need,  Pepperrell  laid  aside  his  other  interests  and  responded 
to  its  call.  Within  two  months  he  had  recruited  and  equipped  a 
force  sufficient  to  undertake  the  expedition.  He  also  contributed 
freely  from  his  own  purse  to  the  funds  which  had  to  be  raised  to 
finance  the  affair. 

( )n  the  twenty-fourth  of  March,  the  Massachusetts  troops  set 
>ail.  It  was  a  bright,  breezy  day.  In  the  hearts  of  the  people  who 
thronged  to  the  dock  to  see  the  men  off,  were  mingled  hope  and  fear. 
Colonel  Pepperrell,  in  his  scarlet  uniform,  with  a  Bible  in  his  pocket, 

i  farewell  to  the  group  of  officials  and  friends  who  had  accom- 
panied him  to  the  ship,  and  went  to  join  his  men.  It  was  a  motley 
throng,  the  men  being  clad  in  garments  of  many  hues.  They  came 
from  nearly  every  walk  of  life.  "The  officers,"  Hawthorne  tells 
re  grave  deacons,  justices  of  the  peace  and  similar  digni- 
taries." There  were  sons  of  rich  farmers,  mechanics,  fishermen, 
merchants  and  carpenters,  "husbands  weary  of  their  wives,  and 
bachelors  disconsolate  for  want  of  them."  Above  them  in  the  breeze 
fluttered  their  flag  with  its  motto,  "Nil  Desperandum,  Christo 
•urnished  by  the  Rev.  George  Whitefield,  giving  to  the 
expedition  the  semblance  of  a  crusade. 

They   arrived   at   Canso,   the  gathering   place   for   the   Colonial 

troops,  on  the  first  of  April.     Commodore  Warren,  with  the  West 

India  fleet,  arrived  shortly  to  take  charge  of  the  naval  end  of  the 

t  was  a  tremendous  task  which  confronted  these  untrained 

dial  troops,  but  with  a  skill  and  foresight  which  distinguished 

Dne  of  the  greatest  of  Colonial  generals,  Colonel  Pepperrell 

Fully    directed    the   operations.      Regardless    of    raging    surf 

de,  the  troops  landed  immediately  upon  their  arrival, 

12 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


made  their  way  through  thickets  and  bogs,  and  on  sledges  which 
they  had  constructed  they  dragged  their  cannon  through  morasses 
knee-deep  in  mud.  Under  Pepperrell's  leadership  they  learned  to 
co-operate  and  were  able  to  conduct  their  attack  against  the  trained 
French  troops  entrenched  behind  the  strong  fortifications,  with 
comparatively  small  loss  of  life.  Forty-nine  days  after  their  arrival 
at  Louisburg,  that  mighty  fortress  capitulated.  It  was  a  great 
day  for  the  provincial  army,  which  marched  into  the  fortress  through 
the  south-west  gate  and  paraded  before  the  French  troops  who  were 
drawn  up  in  front  of  the  barracks  to  receive  them.  What  a  curious 
sight  the  men  of  the  Colonial  army  must  have  presented  as  they 
marched  in  triumph  through  Louisburg!  Hawthorne  tells  us  of 
one  man  who  had  gone  to  war  equipped  with  two  plain  shirts  and 
one  ruffled  one.  The  last  he  had  saved  for  the  day  of  victory,  and 
he  made  a  ludicrous  figure  as  he  marched  along  in  his  rough  brown 
suit  and  blue  yarn  stockings,  with  the  huge  frills  sticking  forth  from 
his  bosom. 

The  news  of  the  fall  of  Louisburg  was  received  with  rejoicing 
in  England  as  well  as  the  Colonies.  At  Boston  and  Salem,  in  New 
York  and  Philadelphia,  bells  were  rung,  bonfires  lighted  and  cannon 
fired.  Air.  Harding  referred  in  the  House  of  Commons  to  the  victory 
as  "an  everlasting  monument  to  the  zeal,  courage  and  perseverance 
of  the  troops  of  New  England,"  and  Voltaire,  in  his  history  of  the 
Reign  of  Louis  the  Fifteenth,  ranks  the  capture  of  this  strong  fortress, 
by  husbandmen,  among  the  great  events  of  the  period.  Colonel 
Pepperrell  was  made  a  baronet  and  was  given  a  high  commission 
in  the  British  regular  army.  In  1749  he  visited  England  and  was 
received  with  marked  distinction.  He  took  no  glory  to  himself 
for  the  success  of  this  great  enterprise,  but  ascribed  it  all  to  the 
prayers  of  the  people.  He  had  sacrificed  not  only  his  business 
interests  by  devoting  over  a  year  to  this  military  service,  for  he 
remained  in  command  at  Louisburg  some  time  after  its  surrender, 
but  he  permanently  injured  his  health  by  exposure  to  the  cold  and 
dampness  of  the  low  marsh  ground  in  front  of  Louisburg  where  he 
contracted  rheumatism  which  later  caused  his  death. 

After  his  marriage  to  Mary  Hirst,  Pepperrell  took  up  his  resi- 
dence in  the  family  mansion  at  Kittery.  A  large  part  of  each  year, 
however,  was  spent  by  the  family  in  Boston,  where  the  Colonel  was 
occupied  with  his  business  affairs  and  his  activities  as  President 
of  the  Council  for  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts,  and  other  public 
duties,  while  Lady  Pepperrell  devoted  herself  to  her  home  cares 
and  the  education  of  the  children.  Keenly  aware  of  the  importance 
of  learning,  Colonel  Pepperrell  determined  that  his  children  should 
have  the  best  educational  advantages  which  Boston  afforded.  They 

13 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


had  four  children,  two  of  whom  died  in  infancy.    Upon  the  others, 
Elizabeth  and  Andrew,  were  centered  all  the  affection  and  hopes  of 
their  devoted  parents.     Elizabeth,  the  only  daughter  of  a  distin- 
guished merchant,  with  her  winning  personality  and  rare  accomplish- 
ments  was  a  popular  belle  in  Boston  society  circles,   and   figured 
prominently  in  the  activities  of  the  younger  social  set.     Many  were, 
the  admirers  who  flocked  about  her  and  staked  their  happiness  for 
•ijrlc  smile.     It  was  Nathaniel  Sparhawk,  son  of  a  clergyman  in 
tol,  Rhode  Island,  who  finally  succeeded  in  winning  her  affec- 


N-  INMTATIOX  TO  SIR  WILLIAM  PEPPERRELL  IX 


' 

i 


'  s- 


young  couple  were  united  in 

SP'endid 


ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


Great  preparations  were  made  for  the  wedding  of  Sir  William's 
only  daughter.  The  following  letter,  ordering  a  portion  of  her  trous- 
seau, was  sent  by  Sir  William  to  his  agent  in  London. 

"Piscataqua  in  New  Eng. 

"Oct.  I4th,  1741. 
"FRANCIS  WILLIS,  ESQ.: 

"Sir, — Your  favor  of  the  i6th  May  and  26th  June  last  I  rec.  by  Capt. 
Prince,  for  which  am  much  obliged  to  you.  Enclosed  you  have  a  receipt  for 
46  p'ds  of  gold  —  weighing  20  ounces — which  will  be  delivered  to  you,  1  hope, 
by  Capt.  Robert  Noble— of  ye  ship  America — which  please  to  rec.  and  credit 
to  my  acc't  writh,  and  send  me  by  ye  lirst  opportunity,  for  this  place  or  Boston, 
silk  to  make  a  woman  a  full  suite  of  clothes,  the  ground  to  be  white  paduroy  & 
flowered  with  all  sorts  of  colors  suitable  for  a  young  woman.  Another  of  white 
watered  tabby  and  gold  lace  for  trimming  of  it — 12  yds.  of  green  paduroy— 
13  yds.  of  lace  for  a  woman's  head  dress — 2  inches  wide — as  can  be  bought  for 
135  per  yd. — a  handsome  fan  with  leather  mounting,  as  good  as  can  be  bought 
about  2Os. — 2  pair  silk  shoes  and  clogs  a  size  bigger  than  ye  shoes. 
"Your  servant  to  command, 

"WM.  PEPPERRELL." 

The  difficulty  of  securing  textiles  at  this  early  period  is  apparent 
from  the  above  letter.  All  of  the  luxuries  and  most  of  the  neccessi- 
ties  possessed  by  the  colonists  of  Sir  William's  time  had  to  be  im- 
ported from  abroad,  for  only  the  coarsest  of  home-spun  materials 
were  made  in  this  country. 


ANDREW  PEPPERRELL'S  UNFORTUNATE  ROMANCE 

Andrew,  only  son  and  heir  of  the  Pepperrell  name  and  fortune, 
was  the  idol  of  his  parents.  When  only  nineteen  he  graduated  from 
Harvard  with  distinguished  honors.  Of  a  kind  and  affectionate 
disposition,  and  with  the  polished  manners  and  courtly  bearing  so 
characteristic  of  his  father,  he  was  a  great  favorite  among  a  wide 
circle  of  acquaintances.  The  news  of  his  engagement  to  Hannah, 
daughter  of  General  Samuel  Waldo,  the  devoted  friend  of  Sir  William, 
was  received  with  much  rejoicing  by  both  families,  and  caused  no 
little  excitement  among  the  fashionable  set  in  Boston.  Part  of 
the  fortune  bestowed  by  Sir  William  upon  his  son  went  toward  the 
erection  of  a  beautiful  house  at  Kittery,  which  was  made  ready  for 
the  bride.  The  day  of  the  wedding  was  set  when  Andrew  became 
seriously  ill,  and  the  affair  had  to  be  postponed.  After  his  recovery, 
the  day  was  again  set  at  various  times,  but  was  postponed  by  Andrew 
upon  one  pretext  or  another. 

Finally,  after  the  lapse  of  about  two  years,  the  date  was  again 
announced,  the  invitations  extended  and  everything  in  readiness  for 
the  ceremony,  when  Miss  Hannah  received  a  letter  from  Andrew 
asking  for  another  postponement  of  a  few  days.  It  is  possible  that 
his  illness  which  was  followed  by  severe  losses  of  property  at  sea  had 


ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


caused  a  state  of  despondency  which  accounted  for  Andrew's  strange 
actions.  Hannah  made  no  reply  to  the  note  asking  for  another 
postponement,  but  when  the  day  arrived  which  Andrew  had  named 

nore  convenient  for  him,  and  the  wedding  guests  were  assembled 
and  the  minister  about  to  perform  the  ceremony,  Hannah  turned 
to  Andrew  and  informed  him  "that  all  was  at  an  end  between  them,, 
for  he  certainly  could  have  no  true  affection  for  one  whom  he  had 
so  constantly  mortified."  The  affair  was  enough  to  make  Boston 

Vty  hold  its  breath,  but  not  its  tongue,  especially  when  in  less 

than  six  weeks,  Hannah  was  led  to  the  altar  by  Thomas  Fluker, 

lire,   secretary   of   the   province.      Both    families    were   greatly 

disturbed   by   the   unpleasant  denouement  of  the   affair.      General 

\Valdo  wrote  to  Sir  William  from  London: 

"1  was  i: really  chagrined  at  the  news  of  my  daughter's  changing  her  mind 
and  dismissing  your  son  after  the  visit  you  mention,  which  I  was  apprised  of 
by  her,  and  concluded  that  the  affair  would  have  had  the  issue  I  had  long  ex- 

<d  and  desired,  and  that  the  ship  which  brought  the  unwelcome  news  of  a 

•.it  ion.  \\ould  have  given  me  the  most  agreeable  advice  of  its  consumma- 
tion; but  I  find  she  was  jealous  that  Mr.  Pepperrell  had  not  the  love  and  friend- 
ship for  her  that  was  necessary  to  make  her  happy.  This  I  understand  from 
her  letter  to  me,  and  that  the  last  promise  made  when  your  son  was  in  Boston 

disregarded  by  him  in  not  returning  at  the  period  he  had  fixed.  This  disap- 
pointment to  a  close  union  with  your  family,  which  above  all  things  I  desired, 
had  given  me  great  uneasiness,  and  the  addition  thereto  will  be  greater  if  I 
should  find  ihc  fault  lie  on  my  daughter;  but  be  that  as  it  ma}-,  I  should  be  very 
to  have  it  break  friendship  between  us,  or  any  of  the  several  branches  of 
our  families; — those  of  yours  I  assure  you  I  wish  as  well  as  to  my  own,  and  I  shall, 
if  ever  in  my  power,  convince  them  of  it. 

"S.  W." 


SIR  WILLIAM'S  BEREAVEMENT 

This   unfortunate  ending   to  the   proposed   marriage  of  his   son 
.-real   disappointment  to  Sir  William,  but  an  even  greater 
was  to  come  to  him,  for  that  idolized  son  in  whom  all  his 
and  ambitions  were  centered  was  to  be  taken  from  him.     On 
wemieth  of  February,  1751,  Andrew  attended  a  social  gathering 
Kmouth— one  of  the  gayest  of  the  merry  group  of  young 
e  returned  home  late  that  night,  and  the  next  day  de- 
loped  a  fever  brought  on  by  the  exposure  to  the  cold  while  crossing 
jcataqua.      This    soon    developed    into    typhoid.      The    best 
mmmoned  but  the  young  man  grew  steadily  worse. 
was  a  man  of  strong  religious  principles  and  a  firm 
in  prayer  besought  the  clergy  in  neighboring  parishes  to 
Wm  and   h,s   family   in   praying  for  the  son's   recovery, 
"ing  pathetic  appeal  was  sent  by  Sir  William  and  his 
•al  messenger  to  the  ministers  in  Boston: 

16 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


"DEAR  CHRISTIAN  FRIENDS: — 

"The  great  and  holy,  just  and  good  God  is  come  out  against  us  in  his  holy 
anger.  O,  may  it  be  fatherly  anger!  He  is  bringing  our  sins  to  remembrance, 
and  seems  to  be  slaying  our  only  son.  O  pray!  pray!  pray!  for  us,  that  the  Lord 
would  keep  us  from  dishonoring  his  great  name  in  our  distress  and  anguish  of 
soul;  that  He  would  support  us  under,  and  carry  us  through,  what  he  shall,  in 
his  sovereign  pleasure,  bring  upon  us,  and  if  it  be  his  blessed  will,  that  our  child 
may  yet  be  spared  to  us,  and  sanctified  and  made  a  blessing.  Pity  us,  O  our 
friends,  and  cry  mightily  to  God  for  us! 

"\\'e  art-  your  distressed  friends, 

"WILLIAM  PEPPERRELL, 
"MARY  PEPPERRELL. 

"P.  S.  Dear  cousin  Gerrish,  let  our  case  be  known  to  Christian  friends 
along  the  road,  and  carry  this  letter  as  soon  as  you  get  to  town,  to  each  one  of 
the  ministers  to  whom  it  is  addressed." 

Through  the  long  night  hours  the  grief-stricken  parents  watched 
over  their  son,  but  Divine  Providence  had  not  willed  that  he  should 
be  spared,  and  on  March  first,  ten  days  after  he  became  ill,  Andrew 
was  taken  from  them,  in  the  twenty-sixth  year  of  his  life.  It  was  a 
severe  blow  to  the  parents,  and  one  which  almost  staggered  the 
heart-broken  father.  Fame  and  prosperity  had  been  his.  From 
the  uneducated  son  of  a  poor  fisherman,  he  had  risen  to  a  position 
of  wealth  and  importance  in  the  colony.  His  commanding  of  the 
untrained  Colonial  forces  in  the  siege  against  Louisburg  and  the 
almost  miraculous  success  of  the  expedition,  had  made  his  name 
famous  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  and  England  had  bestowed 
upon  him  many  honors.  In  his  splendid  mansion,  which  was  the 
gathering  place  for  prominent  and  distinguished  visitors,  were  hung 
costly  paintings  and  mirrors.  His  sideboards  were  loaded  with  silver 
and  his  cellars  filled  with  choice  wines.  Beautiful  deer  roamed  in 
his  park.  But  all  of  these  he  counted  as  nothing  in  comparison  to 
the  son  of  whose  future  he  had  dreamed  since  Andrew  was  a  tiny 
babe.  Now  his  fondest  hopes  were  blasted,  and  the  object  of  his 
greatest  ambition  was  gone  forever! 

He  felt  that  his  own  life  was  drawing  to  a  close  yet  he  did  not 
retire  from  public  activities,  but  continued  to  serve  wherever  he 
was  needed  up  to  the  time  of  his  death.  He  rendered  much  valuable 
assistance  in  conducting  important  negotiations  with  the  Indians 
of  Maine  at  various  times.  In  1754  he  received  orders  to  raise  a 
regiment  of  foot  for  service  in  the  royal  army,  and  while  in  New 
York  on  military  business  the  following  year  he  was  commissioned 
a  major-general  in  the  British  regular  army.  He  did  not  serve  in 
the  field  at  that  time,  owing  to  jealousy  on  the  part  of  Governor 
Shirley,  but  he  took  an  active  part  in  raising  troops  for  the  war 
which  England  was  then  waging  with  the  French,  and  was  given 
command  of  the  forces  which  guarded  the  frontiers  of  Maine  and 
New  Hampshire.  On  the  sixth  of  July,  1759,  just  as  victory  was 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


about  to  crown  the  efforts  of  the  British  forces,  Death  summoned 
the  old  veteran  from  the  field  of  action,  and,  laying  aside  his  earthly 
cares,  he  went  forth  to  join  the  beloved  son  whom  he  had  lost^eight 

n  before.  On  the  day  when  the  "mighty  man  of  Kittery"  was 
Jaid  to  rest,  drooping  flairs  hung  at  half  mast  on  both  sides  of  the 
I'iscataijua.  \\hile  from  the  neighboring  churches  came  the  sound  of 
tilling  bells,  mingled  \\ith  the  salutes  of  the  minute  guns  from  the 
batterie>,  and  the  mournful  rumbling  of  muffled  drums. 

(  )ver  one  hundred  and  sixty  years  have  passed  since  the  death 
,-f  Sir  William,  but  the  name  of  the  old  baronet  still  lingers  in  the 
valley  of  the  Saco,  as  well  as  in  other  beauty  spots  of  New  England. 
The  service  which  he  rendered  his  country  in  her  hour  of  need  entitles 
him  to  an  honored  place  in  the  pages  of  her  history.  Yet  it  is  not 
onl\  at  military  leader  that  Sir  William  is  remembered.  He 

lived  at  a  time  when  men  of  ability  were  called  upon  to  play  many 
and  varied  parts,  and  he  gave  whole-heartedly  of  his  splendid  talents 
uherever  they  were  needed.  It  is  said  that  the  one  controlling  pur- 
of  his  life  was  duty.  As  Chief  Justice  of  the  Court  of  Common 
I'k-as  for  Maine,  he  had  an  important  part  in  the  legal  affairs  of  the 
colony.  In  a  period  when  the  majority  of  the  colonists  were  chiefly 
concerned  with  their  struggle  for  existence,  Sir  William  stood  for 
the  higher  things  of  life.  His  home  was  a  center  of  culture  and 
refinement,  and  he  himself  became  a  patron  of  letters,  and  the 
benefactor  of  American  institutions  of  learning.  He  was  also  a  suc- 
cessful business  man  and  colonizer.  No  other  American,  with  the 
exception  of  certain  royal  patentees,  possessed  such  vast  estates  as 
those  belonging  to  the  Pepperrell  family.  With  that  remarkable 
energy  and  power  which  were  so  characteristic  of  him,  he  succeeded 
in  subduing  the  wilderness,  and  in  transforming  the  great  trees  of 
forest  into  ships,  by  means  of  which  commercial  relations  were 

.blished  between  America  and  other  parts  of  the  world.  In 
^pite  of  his  marked  success  in  these  various  lines,  it  is  said  that  pros- 
pent)  never  made  him  arrogant,  or  marred  the  simplicity  of  his 
nature. 

It   is  singularly  fitting  that  the  great  cotton  mills  on  the  banks 

the  Sao,   River  at  Biddeford,  Maine,  should  bear  the  name  of 

this  man  who.  over  two  hundred  years  ago,  saw  the  untold  possi- 

this  section,  and,  with  his  father,  bought  tracts  of  land 

banks  of  the  river,  including  the  present  site  of  the  Pepperell 

:ie  time  Sir  William  claimed  that  he  could  travel  from  Kittery, 

Maine,  to  Saco,  a  distance  of  about  thirty  miles,  and  not  leave  his 

'  P<;  l'>    1716  he  purchased  a  large  part  of  the  present 

extending  from  the  sea  several  miles  along  the 

18 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


Saco  River.  The  land  was  bought  from  Samuel  Walker  and  Rebecca 
Goodwin,  successors  of  Benjamin  Blackman,  who  had  purchased 
it  from  the  original  proprietors,  Gibbons  and  Bonython.  Saco 
and  Biddeford,  lying  on  opposite  sides  of  the  river,  were  originally 
one  town.  In  1762,  shortly  after  Sir  William's  death,  they  were 
separated  and  the  part  lying  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  was  called 
Pepperrellboro,  in  honor  of  the  baronet.  This  name  was  retained 
until  1805,  when  the  old  name  of  Saco  was  substituted. 

Along  the  eastern  banks  of  the  river,  Sir  William  erected  his 
lumber  mills,  and  at  Biddeford  Pool,  where  the  waters  of  the  Saco 
empty  into  the  ocean,  he  and  his  father  carried  on  their  ship-building 
industry.  In  1757,  on  the  petition  of  Sir  William  and  others,  the 
General  Court  granted  permission  to  the  people  of  Saco  to  hold 
a  lottery,  the  proceeds  of  which  were  to  go  toward  the  building  of 
a  bridge  over  the  Saco  River,  and  Pepperrell  was  placed  at  the  head 
of  the  commissioners  who  had  charge  of  the  affair.  This  bridge, 
the  first  which  ever  spanned  the  waters  of  the  Saco,  crossed  the 
branch  of  the  river  on  the  east  side  of  Indian  Island,  now  known 
as  Factory  Island.  It  was  a  momentous  day  for  these  people  when 
this  bridge  was  ready  for  use,  and  the  method  which  was  used  in 
obtaining  it,  apparently,  did  not  detract  from  their  enjoyment  of  it. 

Sir  William  spent  considerable  time  in  looking  after  these  vast 
estates,  especially  after  his  return  from  England  where  he  went 
after  the  conquest  of  Louisburg.  While  in  Saco  he  frequently 
visited  at  the  home  of  Rev.  Mr.  Morrill.  Whenever  he  was  there 
on  Sunday  he  always  attended  services  in  the  little  church,  and 
it  is  said  that  he  never  failed  to  drop  a  guinea  on  the  collection 
plate.  His  coming  was  quite  an  event  in  the  little  town,  where  the 
people  gazed  in  awe  and  admiration  upon  his  manly  figure,  clad 
in  the  embroidered  waistcoat  and  scarlet  coat  of  that  period.  All 
loved  the  courtly  old  gentleman  with  his  stern,  strong  face  and 
kindly  but  resolute  eye. 

IN  THE  DAYS  OF  THE  RED  MEN 

Others  before  and  since  Sir  William's  time  have  found  the  Saco  Val- 
ley a  pleasant  place.  It  was  especially  beloved  by  the  Sokokis  Indians, 
who  once  roamed  through  the  dense  forests  in  search  of  game  or  the 
healing  herbs,  for  which  their  tribe  was  noted.  Here  they  erected 
their  rude  wigwams,  and  at  night  the  sound  of  the  waters  as  they 
dashed  over  the  rocks,  lulled  them  into  peaceful  slumber.  Gathered 
about  the  blazing  camp  fire  the  old  men  of  the  tribe  would  tell  the 
young  warriors  the  mysterious  legends  of  this  section. 

19 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


<*>%  *.-  <- 


BIRD'S  KVK  VIEW  OF  BIDDEFORD  AND  SACO  IN  1875 

Among  these  was  the  legend  of  "the  lost  maiden" — that  beauti- 
ful daughter  of  an  Indian  family  living  near  the  head  waters  of  the 
Saco.  None  could  compare  with  this  maiden  in  beauty  or  virtue. 

as  skilled,  also,  in  all  of  the  arts  known  to  her  people.  Surely 
so  marvelous  a  maiden  must  have  a  mate  who  was  worthy  of  her! 
But  in  vain  her  parents  sought  for  such  a  one.  He  was  not  to  be 
found!  Suddenly  the  maiden  disappeared.  No  trace  could  be 
found  of  her  dainty,  moccasined  foot  in  forest  or  glade,  and  where 
once  her  silvery  laughter  sounded,  now  mournful  silence  reigned. 
At  last  some  hunters,  roaming  far  into  the  mountain  fastnesses  in 
M-arch  of  game,  saw  the  maiden  standing  on  the  banks  of  a  quiet 
stream,  and  by  her  side  a  marvelous  youth  whose  hair,  like  her  own, 
fell  down  to  his  waist.  At  the  approach  of  the  hunters  the  two  fled 
into  the  forest  and  disappeared.  When  the  parents  were  told  of 

:K-V  knew  that  her  companion  was  one  of  the  pure  spirits  of 
ilu-  mountain,  and  from  that  time  on  they  considered  him  as  their 
BOO,  calling  upon  him  whenever  game  was  scarce,  and  never  did 
they  call  in  vain. 

Such  was  one  of  the  legends  of  these  simple  children  of  nature 
\\lin  lived  and  loved,  and  built  their  humble  dwellings  along  the 


20 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


banks  of  the  Saco  in  those  far-away  days  before  the  coming  of  the 
white  men.  On  Indian  Island  resided  generation  after  generation 
of  their  sagamores.  It  was  with  a  great  sorrow  and  heart  ache  that 
they  turned  their  faces  away  from  these  loved  scenes,  forced  to 
retreat  farther  and  farther  to  the  westward  by  the  relentless  en- 
croachments of  the  white  men. 

THE  COMING  OF  THE  WHITE  MEN 

In  1605  an  English  exploring  vessel,  commanded  by  Captain 
George  Weymouth,  was  cruising  along  the  coast  of  Maine,  and 
finally  put  into  the  harbor  at  the  mouth  of  the  Penobscot 
River.  The  Captain  and  his  men  visited  the  Indians  living  in  this 
section  and  succeeded  in  luring  five  of  their  chief  men  on  board. 
These  they  held  captive  and  took  back  with  them  to  England,  where 
they  were  seen  by  the  explorer,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  who  became 
much  interested  in  them  and  took  them  into  his  family.  They 
were  with  him  three  years,  during  which  time  they  learned  to  speak 
the  English  language,  and  told  him  a  great  deal  about  the  coast  of 
Maine  with  its  "goodly  rivers,  stately  islands  and  safe  harbors." 
It  was  not  strange  that  Gorges  should  become  interested  in  this 
wonderful  new  world,  which  was  pictured  to  him  with  all  the  glamour 
and  beauty  and  mystery  which  the  red  man  is  capable  of  expressing. 
He  was  not  long  in  interesting  others  in  the  scheme  of  planting 
colonies  in  America,  and  the  organization  which  they  formed  for 
this  purpose  was  called  the  Plymouth  Company.  From  King  James  I 
they  obtained  a  grant  of  all  the  land  from  the  Hudson  River  to 
Cape  Breton,  including  all  islands  within  one  hundred  miles  of  the 
coast.  When  the  rights  of  the  Company  were  transferred  to  forty 
noblemen,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  was  granted  the  portion  now 
included  in  Maine,  so  that  he  became  the  first  individual  land  owner 
of  that  State. 

Numerous  explorers  were  sent  out  by  the  Plymouth  Company, 
but  practically  all  brought  back  unfavorable  reports  of  the  pros- 
pects in  the  new  world,  declaring  that  the  coast  was  unfit  for  civilized 
settlement.  Gorges,  however,  refused  to  be  discouraged.  In  1616  he 
sent  out  a  crew  of  thirty-two  men,  "hired  at  great  cost,"  to  spend 
the  winter  on  these  shores  and  test  the  severity  of  the  climate. 
Sixteen  of  the  crew  were  left  at  Monhegan  to  fish,  probably  to  offset 
the  cost  of  equipping  for  the  voyage.  The  remaining  sixteen,  under 
the  direction  of  Captain  Richard  Vines,  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Saco  River  in  September,  1616,  several  years  before  the  settlement 
of  Massachusetts  by  the  Puritans.  It  was  a  magnificent  sight  which 
greeted  them.  The  country,  wrapped  in  its  myriad-hued  mantle 

21 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


of  autumn,  was  never  more  beautiful,  and  at  night  the  great  round 
harvest  moon,  reflected  on  the  rippling  surface  of  the  water,  gave 
the  final  touch  of  magic  and  mystery  to  the  scene.  The  men  spent 
the  autumn  exploring  the  coast,  and  bartering  with  the  Indians. 
The  red  men  of  that  section  were  suffering  from  a  terrible  disease 
which  was  laying  waste  their  numbers.  This  was  looked  upon  by 
the  colonists  as  a  special  dispensation  of  Providence  in  their  favor, 
for  they  felt  that  God  was  making  "way  for  his  people  by  removing 
the  heathen  and  planting  them  in  the  land."  Though  the  white 
people  mingled  freely  with  the  Indians  and  accepted  their  hospitality, 
often  spending  the  night  in  their  wigwams,  they  did  not  suffer  from 
the  contagion. 

It  soon  became  apparent  that  they  should  begin  to  erect  their 
winter  quarters  and  prepare  for  the  coming  of  cold  weather,  which, 
according  to  numerous  signs,  promised  to  be  exceedingly  severe. 
The  corn  husks  lay  thick  and  close  about  the  ears;  the  beach  and 
walnut  burs  were  unusually  thick,  while  the  foxes  and  squirrels 
were  wrapped  in  thick,  warm  coats,  and  the  wild  geese  were  early 
in  flying  south.  Would  it  be  possible  for  these  Englishmen  to  spend 
the  winter  on  this  stern  New  England  coast,  or  would  they  like  the 
Sagadahock  colonists  and  others,  find  this  section  of  America  unfit 
for  civilized  habitation,  and  the  experiment  upon  which  Gorges  had 
set  his  heart,  end  in  failure?  Time  alone  would  tell! 

After  exploring  all  points  along  the  shores  of  Saco  Bay,  the 
men  finally  selected  a  spot  in  lower  Biddeford,  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Pool,  and  there  erected  a  log  cabin,  the  first  habitation  of  civilized 
man  ever  built  within  the  limits  of  the  present  cities  of  Saco  and 
Biddeford.  The  cabin  was  built  securely  and  thatched  with  the  long 
grass  gathered  from  the  marshes,  while  a  wide  fireplace  and  a  chimney 
were  built  of  the  stones  picked  up  on  the  beach,  and  the  floor 
carpeted  with  the  fragrant  boughs  of  the  hemlock.  They  were 
snug,  comfortable  quarters  and  though  the  winter  was  extremely  cold, 
the  men  did  not  experience  any  great  discomfort.  In  the  spring 
they  returned  home  with  favorable  reports  of  the  country.  Gorges' 
experiment  had  proved  a  success!  The  place  where  these  colonists 
passed  the  winter  of  1616-17  received  the  name  of  Winter  Harbor, 
and  the  neighborhood  is  still  visited  by  those  who  love  to  view 
these  historic  old  landmarks  and  live  again  in  imagination  those 
early  days  which  marked  the  beginning  of  this  great  nation. 

Gratified  by  the  result  of  this  experiment,  Gorges  and  others 
were  active  during  the  next  seven  years  in  transporting  colonists 
to  these  shores,  and  numerous  settlements  were  established  in  the 
vicinity  of  Saco  Bay.  Here  they  erected  their  rude  log  cabins  and 
engaged  in  the  few  occupations  which  the  country  permitted.  These 

23 


th*  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


VINES 


were  chiefly  fishing  and  trading.  A  few  tried  farming,  and  one, 
Thomas  Rogers,  made  such  a  success  of  it  that  his  farm  was  desig- 
nated on  the  early  maps  as  "Roger's  Garden."  He  settled  here 
in  io}X,  and  the  trees  which  he  planted  lived  for  over  a  century, 
and  became  the  "old  orchard"  from  which  that  popular  summer 
resort  received  its  name. 

The  first  importation  of  cattle  into  the  State  of  Maine  was  in 
i,  when  a  cargo  of  hogs,  goats,  sheep  and  cows  was  brought 
in  the  settlement,  and  added  materially  to  its  prosperity.  Horses 
were  not  introduced  until  many  years  later.  Traveling  between 
the  various  settlements  was  by  boat  or  along  the  Indian  trails 
through  the  woods.  The  food  of  these  early  settlers  was  principally 
venison  and  fish.  Their  corn  was  crushed  in  wooden  mortars,  and 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


their  garments  made  of  rude  home-spun  material  or  the  skins  of 
wild  beasts.  It  was  a  rude,  primitive  life,  but  it  produced  a  sturdy 
race  of  people.  Each  year  added  new  numbers  to  the  little  groups 
of  settlers,  until  Saco  Bay  became  an  important  point  in  the  new 
world. 


TROUBLE  WITH  THE  INDIANS 

For  over  fifty  years  these  settlers  lived  in  peace  with  the  Indians, 
and  carried  on  a  profitable  trade  with  them.  In  1675,  however, 
there  occurred  an  event  which  precipitated  a  long  series  of  bloody 
wars.  The  young  wife  of  Squando,  a  noted  chief  of  the  Sokoki 
tribe,  was  crossing  the  river  in  her  canoe  one  day.  She  had  with 
her  her  babe,  the  first-born  son  of  the  great  chieftain.  Some  sailors 
from  an  English  vessel  anchored  in  the  river,  saw  her  and  desiring 
to  find  out  if  Indian  children  could  swim  by  instinct  like  wild  animals, 
they  upset  the  canoe.  The  babe  sank,  and  the  terrified  mother  dove 
after  it  and  brought  it  to  shore,  but  it  died  not  long  after,  and  the 
heart-broken  father  determined  to  seek  revenge. 

The  western  Indians,  under  Philip,  had  laid  their  plans  to  wipe 
out  all  the  white  settlers  on  the  coast,  and  Squando  decided  to  lend 
them  his  assistance.  The  settlement  at  Saco  Falls,  where  the  great 
mills  now  stand,  was  doomed  to  receive  the  first  blow.  It  was  a 
peaceful  Saturday  morning  on  the  eighteenth  of  September,  1675. 
The  gay  laughter  of  happy  children,  playing  about  the  door  of  the 
log  cabin,  mingled  with  the  humming  of  the  spinning  wheel,  came 
from  within  as  the  busy  mother  worked  at  her  morning  task.  Oc- 
casionally were  heard  the  sounds  of  the  woodman's  axe,  or  the  sharp 
report  of  some  hunter's  gun.  Suddenly  the  scene  changed!  An 
Indian  whom  Captain  John  Bonython  had  once  befriended  con- 
veyed to  the  Captain  the  information  that  strange  Indians  were 
lurking  in  the  vicinity,  and  there  was  danger  of  an  attack. 

Immediately  the  alarm  was  spread  and  the  panic  stricken  in- 
habitants left  their  unfinished  tasks  and  fled  to  the  garrison  house 
of  Major  Phillips  on  the  west  side  of  the  river.  Scarcely  had  they 
reached  its  shelter  than  Captain  Bonython's  house  which  stood 
on  the  Saco  side  of  the  river,  burst  into  flames.  The  attack  had 
commenced!  House  after  house  was  fired,  the  cattle  slain,  and 
finally  the  garrison  was  attacked.  The  first  onslaught  was  repulsed 
by  the  settlers.  Shortly  afterwards,  Major  Phillips  went  to  an 
upper  window  to  watch  the  movements  of  the  red  men.  He  was  seen 
by  a  lurking  Indian  who  shot  at  him,  wounding  him  in  the  shoulder. 
Believing  that  he  had  been  killed,  the  enemy  rallied  for  a  second 

25 


the  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


attack,  and  were  again  repulsed.  Six  of  them  were  killed,  and  a 
number  \\ounded,  including  their  leader. 

The  Indians  next  set  fire  to  the  mills,  thinking  the  men  would 
come  mil  to  defend  their  property,  but  they  made  a  mistake!  Attack 
aft  CM-  attack  was  made  upon  the  garrison,  the  firing  continuing 
through  the  night.  Suddenly  the  Indians  had  an  inspiration! 
They  secured  a  cart  which  had  been  used  at  the  mills,  loaded  it 
with"  bitch  bark  and  other  inflammable  material,  set  it  on  fire  and 
attempted  to  run  it  against  the  house  and  toss  the  flaming  brands 
on  to  the  roof  with  long  poles.  The  cart  upset,  exposing  the  entire 
party  to  the  tire  from  the  garrison.  Fifteen  were  killed  and  wounded, 
and  the  others  withdrew,  discouraged.  Within  the  garrison  house 
the  weary  little  band  of  settlers  breathed  a  prayer  of  thanksgiving. 
The  siege  had  lasted  for  eighteen  hours.  Major  Phillips  and  two 
others  had  been  wounded.  When  the  sun  once  more  rose  over  the 
little  Saco  settlement,  it  revealed  a  mass  of  smoking  ruins.  Only 
the  river,  dashing  noisily  along  its  rocky  channel,  reminded  one  of 
the  peaceful  scene  of  the  day  before. 

Major  Phillips  appealed  to  the  colonists  at  Winter  Harbor  for 
help,  as  the  ammunition  was  nearly  exhausted  and  the  little  group 

-  t tiers  in  great  distress,  but  none  could  be  spared  to  assist  him. 
So  the  people  from  the  Saco  settlement  left  their  ruined  homes  and 
went  to  Winter  Harbor  where  they  joined  forces  with  those  colonists 
in  preparing  for  the  reign  of  terror  which  followed. 

This  war  lasted  about  three  years,  and  the  scattered  settlements 
along  the  coast  from  New  Hampshire  to  the  Kennebec  suffered 

rely.  It  had  burst  upon  them  with  such  fury  that  they  had 
little  time  for  preparation.  Garrison  houses  were  destroyed  before 
t  hey  were  entirely  built,  and  many  settlers  killed  or  captured.  Every- 
one went  armed.  Even  the  women  kept  a  loaded  musket  beside  them 
when  they  were  busy  about  their  household  tasks.  At  church,  armed 
men  sat  at  the  end  of  the  seats  that  they  might  protect  the  women. 
It  is  said  that  the  congregation  actually  watched  while  the  minis- 
ter prayed. 

After  an  interval  of  about  ten  years,  King  William's  War  broke 

out,   in    inxs,   but  the  Saco  settlement  did   not  suffer  during  this 

uprising  as  it   had  in  King  Philip's  War.     An  interesting  incident 

occurred  at  this  time,  a  memorial  of  which  is  still  preserved  by  a 

prominent  family  in  the  city  of  Saco.    A  party  of  Indians  who  had 

on  a  marauding  expedition  in  Kittery  and  Berwick,  suddenly 

appeared  at  the  Saco  settlement.    They  descended  upon  the  home 

Captain    Humphrey   Sea, ..man   where   Mrs.   Scamman  was    alone 

ith  her  hve  children.     Her  little  ten  year  old  son  had  just    started 

ith  a  mug  of  beer  for  the  father  who  was  mowing  in  a  nearby 

26 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


meadow.  The  little  fellow  saw  the  Indians  and  rushed  back  to  tell 
his  mother,  setting  the  mug  of  beer  down  on  the  dresser.  There 
was  no  time  to  escape.  The  house  was  surrounded  almost  instantly 
and  the  mother  and  children  taken  captive.  They  demanded  that 
Mrs.  Scamman  tell  where  her  husband  was,  but  she  refused.  At 
length  the  chief  promised  that  all  their  lives  would  be  spared  if  she 
would  reveal  his  whereabouts.  For  a  moment  she  hesitated.  Could 
she  rely  on  his  promise?  She  looked  at  the  terrified  children  clutch- 
ing at  her  skirts,  and  yielded.  The  Captain  was  also  taken,  and  the 
Indians,  fearing  an  attack,  hastened  away  with  their  captives. 

They  were  taken  along  the  forest  trails  to  Canada,  stopping  at 
Peckwogett,  now  Fryeburg,  which  was  once  the  capital  of  the  Sokoki 
tribe.  They  suffered  many  hardships  and  cruelties,  and  finally  the 
council  decreed  that  they  should  be  slain,  but  the  chief  remained 
faithful  to  his  promise.  They  continued  on  their  journey  to  Canada, 
where  the  captives  were  disposed  of  among  the  French  and  scattered 
through  different  parts  of  the  province.  The  following  year  a  treaty 
was  signed  with  the  Indians,  and  the  entire  family  returned  in  safety 
to  their  home.  Their  favorite  cat  was  waiting  for  them  on  the  door- 
step, and  inside,  on  the  dresser,  the  mug  of  beer  was  still  resting 
where  the  boy  had  placed  it  over  a  year  before,  when  he  had  run 
to  his  mother  with  the  dread  news.  A  picture  of  the  mug  is  shown 
on  page  seventy-two.  This  mug  has  been  preserved  and  handed 
down  from  generation  to  generation,  and  is  now  in  possession  of 
Mrs.  W.  E.  Elmer,  one  of  the  descendants  of  Captain  Humphrey 
Scamman. 

THE  OLD  STONE  FORT 

The  stone  fort,  often  referred  to  as  the  "Old  Stone  Fort,"  stood 
on  the  west  side  of  the  river  where  some  of  the  mills  of  the  Pepperell 
Manufacturing  Company  are  now  located.  It  was  built  in  1693  by 
Captain  Hill  and  Major  Francis  Hooke,  under  the  direction  of  Major 
Converse,  a  famous  old  Indian  fighter.  The  Indians  were  never  able 
to  subdue  the  forces  kept  there  under  the  command  of  Captain 
George  Turfrey  and  Lieutenant  Pendelton  Fletcher,  but  they  lurked 
about  in  the  vicinity,  watching  their  chance  to  kill  or  capture  any 
who  might  venture  forth  from  the  shelter  of  those  massive  stone  walls. 
It  is  said  that  fourteen  persons  lost  their  lives  or  were  captured  in  this 
way. 

FORT  MARY 

Troops  were  quartered  at  the  stone  fort  until  1708  when  they 
were  removed  to  the  new  fort  which  had  been  built  at  Winter  Harbor. 
This  fortification,  named  Fort  Mary,  was  under  the  command  of 

27 


ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


Captain  John  Hill  during  the  greater  part  of  King  William's  War, 
and  was  the  scene  of  many  thrilling  and  romantic  adventures.  The 
story  is  told  of  how  a  young  woman  named  Mary  Dyer,  living  at 
Biddeford  Pool,  was  startled  one  day  while  the  men  were  out  fishing 
by  seeing  some  Indians  coming  down  the  beach  toward  her  house. 
With  her  two  small  children,  one  in  her  arms  and  the  other  clinging 
t«>  her  skirts,  she  hastened  to  the  "Gut"  where  a  boat  w^as  lying. 
Placing  her  children  in  the  bottom  of  it,  she  pushed  it  off  and  swiftly 
rowed  across  the  water  toward  Fort  Mary.  Having  reached  the 
land  she  secured  her  boat  and  started  up  the  cliff.  A  bullet  from 
the  pun  of  one  of  the  Indians  struck  the  ground  beside  her.  Calmly 
she  stooped  down  and  marked  the  place  with  a  stick  before  continu- 
ing on  her  way  to  the  fort,  which  she  finally  reached  in  safety.  Her 
home  was  plundered,  but  her  quick  and  heroic  action  had  saved  her 
life  and  that  of  her  little  ones.  After  the  Indians  withdrew,  she  went 
out  and  dug  up  the  bullet  which  had  been  aimed  at  her.  This  was 
kept  in  the  family  for  three  generations. 

During  the  time  that  Captain  Hill  was  stationed  at  Fort  Mary, 
William  Peppcrrell,  father  of  Sir  William,  was  engaged  in  ship 
building  in  that  vicinity.  The  following  letter  was  sent  to  Captain 
Hill  by  Peppcrrell  the  year  that  young  William  was  born. 

"Kittery  Point,  Nov.  12,  1696. 
•.tin  Hill. 

"Sir:  With  much  trouble  1  have  gotten  men  and  sent  for  the  sloop,  and 

desire  you  to  dispatch  them  with  all  speed,  for,  if  all  things  be  ready,  they  may  be 

mod  t<>  leave  in  two  days  as  well  as  in  seven  years.    If  you  and'  the  carpenter 

think  it  convenient,  and  the  ground  has  not  too  much  descent,  I  think  it  may  be 

safer  and  better  to  bend  her  sails  before  you  launch  her,  so  as  to  leave  immediate- 

But  I  shall  leave  it  to  your  management,  and  desire  you  to  hasten  them 

ind  night;  for,  sir,  it  will  be  dangerous  tarrying  there  o'n  account  of  hostile 

the  vicinity,  and  it  would  be  very  expensive  to  keep  the  men  on  pay. 

>u  a  barrel  of  rum,  and  there  is  a  cask  of  wine  to  launch  with.    So  with 

J  oursclf  and  lady,  hoping  they  are  all  in  good  health,  as  I  am  at 

promt,  who  arc  your  humble  servant  at  command, 

"WILLIAM  PEPPERRELL." 

'.veil  in  those  remote  and  troublesome  times,  a  launching  was 

mcwhat  of  an  event,  if  we  may  judge  by  the  "appurtenances" 

idcd  by  Peppcrrell  for  the  occasion.     From  all  accounts  brandy 

rum  was  an  essential  part  of  every  celebration  from  a  launching 

r  house  raisin^  to  a  marriage  or  a  death. 

OLD  LANDMARKS 

There   are   numerous    historic   old    landmarks    about    Saco    and 
the  atmosphere  of  other  days  still  lingers.     On 
the  road  to  Biddeford  Pool  stands  the  old  Haley 
28 


"the  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


house  where  many  generations  of  that  family  have  been  born.  They 
came  to  this  place  from  the  Isle  of  Shoals,  and  took  a  prominent 
part  in  the  early  affairs  of  the  settlement.  John  Haley,  one  of  the 
prominent  citizens  of  the  town  today,  is  a  direct  descendant  of  this 
old  family,  and  he  proudly  calls  one's  attention  to  the  fact  that  nearly 
all  of  the  Haleys  have  lived  to  a  ripe  old  age.  In  fact  the  only  two 
of  the  first  five  generations  who  died  before  they  were  well  into  their 
nineties,  were  both  victims  of  the  Indians.  One  who  was  an  officer 


TABLET  MARKING  SITE  OF  FORT 


at  the  old  stone  fort  was  killed  when  he  left  the  fort  to  get  some  wood. 
Another  Haley  had  long  been  on  friendly  terms  with  the  Indians, 
and  though  repeatedly  urged  by  his  friends,  had  refused  to  follow 
their  example  and  go  to  the  garrison  house.  One  night  he  was  aroused 
by  a  loud  rapping  at  the  door.  He  opened  it  and  two  Indians  walked 
in.  He  hospitably  built  a  fire  for  them,  but  it  soon  became  apparent 
that  they  were  bent  on  mischief  and  he  ordered  them  out.  They 
grabbed  the  fire  brands,  and  threw  them  about  the  room,  endeavor- 
ing to  set  the  house  on  fire.  Mr.  Haley  seized  his  musket  and  drove 
them  into  the  woods,  while  his  brave  wife  beat  out  the  flames.  After 
that  Mr.  Haley  joined  the  garrison,  but  he  had  aroused  the  enmity 
of  the  Indians  who  were  determined  to  have  their  revenge,  and  he 
had  many  narrow  escapes.  One  evening  his  cow  did  not  come  home, 

29 


ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


and  hearing  the  tinkling  of  her  bell,  apparently  not  very  far  off, 
Mr.  Haley  started  out  in  search  of  her.  The  sound  of  the  bell  kept 
receding  into  the  depths  of  the  woods.  His  family  waited  for  him 
anxiously  for  some  time.  Suddenly  the  report  of  a  musket  was  heard 
and  an  armed  squad  immediately  set  off  in  the  direction  of  the  sound 
to  find  out  what  had  happened.  In  the  woods  they  found  the  cow 
which  had  been  slain,  and  farther  on  the  body  of  Mr.  Haley,  which 
had  been  cut  into  small  pieces.  He  had  at  last  fallen  victim  to  the 
Indian-  with  whom  he  had  lived  on  friendly  terms  for  so  many  years. 
The  old  Haley  house  is  a  typical  one  of  that  period  in  which  it 
built.  It  is  constructed  of  strong  timbers,  some  of  which  are 
fifteen  inches  in  diameter,  and  was  built  to  withstand  the  strain 
of  Indian  warfare. 

JORDAN'S  GARRISON 

On  a  little  inlet  of  Biddeford  Pool  there  has  stood  probably  since 
1717  an  old  structure  known  as  Jordan's  Garrison.  It  is  possible 
that  it  dates  back  even  earlier,  but  it  is  known  to  have  been  inhabited 
at  that  time  by  Captain  Samuel  Jordan.  It  was  originally  erected 
as  a  garrison  house  and  was  surrounded  by  a  high  palisade  of  stone 
and  timber,  at  the  corners  of  which  were  lookouts,  commanding  a 
view  each  way.  The  house  was  securely  built  and  afforded  protection 
not  only  to  his  own  family  but  to  the  neighboring  colonists  who  took 
shelter  within  its  walls  when  danger  threatened. 

Captain  Jordan  kept  a  general  merchandise  store  and  carried 
on  a  fairly  prosperous  business.  As  a  boy  he  had  been  taken  captive 
by  the  Indians  and  had  lived  among  them  for  a  number  of  years. 
The  knowledge  which  he  gained  of  their  language,  customs  and 
methods  of  warfare  admirably  fitted  him  for  the  perils  and  hardships 
which  he  and  the  colonists  at  Winter  Harbor  were  forced  to  experience 
during  the  years  of  strife  with  the  Indians.  It  is  said  that  once  when 
he  was  working  in  his  field  he  was  attacked  by  a  band  of  natives. 
He  had  his  gun  with  him  but  no  surplus  ammunition,  and  unwilling 
to  use  his  only  shot,  he  calmly  aimed  his  gun  at  them  and  walked 
backwards  until  he  reached  the  garrison.  At  another  time  he  stole 
upon  a  party  of  Indians  who  were  joyously  cutting  up  a  calf  which 
they  had  stolen  from  his  herd.  As  they  carved  out  huge  slices  of 

flesh,  he  heard  them  say,  "  So  will  we  cut  Jordan."    It  was  hardly 

be  wondered  at  that  he  lost  his  patience  and  sent  a  charge  of 
whizzing  through  the  group.  One  of  the  Indians  was 
lied,  and  the  others  tied,  leaving  their  muskets  behind 

At  the  time  of  the  Revolution  this  old  building  was  the  residence 
Captain  James  P.  Hill,  one  of  the  committee  of  safety,  and  many 

30 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


MONUMENT  AT  THE  SITE  OF  FORT  MARY 

distinguished  persons  gathered  within  its  walls  to  confer  on  various 
matters  of  importance  during  that  period.  The  snows  of  many  a 
New  England  winter  have  fallen  upon  this  venerable  mansion  of 
memories,  but  it  still  survives,  recalling  to  the  minds  of  those  who 
know  its  history  these  stirring  scenes  of  the  past  when  it  was  the 
center  of  numerous  activities  in  this  old  settlement. 


COLONEL  THOMAS  CLTTS 

High  up  on  the  hill  of  Indian  Island,  or  Factory  Island,  which 
lies  midway  between  Saco  and  Biddeford,  is  a  stately  old  colonial 
dwelling  known  as  Colonel  Cults'  mansion.  It  is  occupied  at  ihe 
presenl  lime  by  Mr.  Ernesl  L.  Morrill,  agent  of  the  Pepperell  Manu- 
facturing Company.  Its  original  owner,  Colonel  Thomas  Culls, 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


COLONEL  CUTTS'  HOUSE  AT  BIDDEFORD 


was  the  son  of  Major  Richard  Cutts  of  Kittery,  who  served  under 
Sir  William  Pepperrell  at  the  siege  of  Louisburg.  As  a  young  man, 
Thomas  Cutts  had  held  the  position  of  clerk  to  Sir  William.  In 
1758,  when  he  was  twenty-two  years  of  age,  he  came  to  Saco  with 
just  one  hundred  dollars,  borrowed  of  his  father,  in  his  pocket.  It 
was  quite  characteristic  of  him  that  he  should  pay  back  this  sum  at 
his  first  opportunity. 

Thomas  Cutts  was  not  slow  to  appreciate  the  advantages  of 
Indian  Island  which  for  some  time  was  called  Cutts'  Island  in  his 
honor.  As  soon  as  he  was  able  he  purchased  a  small  tract  of  land  on 
this  island  for  ninety  dollars,  and  built  a  small  house,  part  of  which 
was  used  for  a  store.  This  humble  structure  may  still  be  seen,  stand- 
ing at  the  foot  of  the  island  where  it  presents  a  striking  contrast 
to  the  splendid  mansion  on  the  hill  above.  His  business  prospered 
and  in  time  he  owned  the  entire  island,  having  purchased  half  of 
it  from  the  heirs  of  Sir  William  Pepperrell  in  1775,  and  smaller 
portions  from  other  owners.  He  was  soon  obliged  to  enlarge  his 
quarters,  and  in  addition  to  his  other  business  he  engaged  in  ship 
building  and  navigation.  From  his  mansion  high  up  on  the  island 
he  could  see  his  ships  starting  out  on  their  voyages  to  all  parts  of 
the  world,  and  returning  laden  with  the  products  of  other  lands. 

He  owned  lumber  and  grist  mills,  and  with  Josiah  Calef,  Esq., 
built  the  first  nail  factory  for  the  manufacture  of  cut  nails  in  the 
State  of  Maine.  In  those  days  the  Saco  River  was  alive  with  salmon, 

33 


flu  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 

nd  the  ttorv  is  told  of  a  most  unusual  strike  declared  by  the  opera- 
ves  of    he  Saco  nail  factory  who,  weary  of  havmg  this  fish  served 
,    o  them  at  the  boarding  house  seven  days  in  the  week    refused 
o  work  unless  they  could  have  a  change  of  fare      Finally  a  com- 
promise was  agreed  upon  whereby  it  was  understood  that  they  should 
lot  have  salmon  but  three  days  a  week. 

Not  only  was  Colonel  Cutts  one  of  the  most  prominent  merchants 
in    Maine,   but  he  was  one  of  Saco's   most  distinguished   citizens. 


HKST  HOUSE  AM)  STORE  BUILT  BY  COLONEL  THOMAS  CUTTS 


He  was  appointed  first  major  of  the  third  regiment  by  the  Council 
of  Massachusetts  in  1776.  and  two  years  later  was  made  colonel  of 
the  same  regiment.  He  held  many  public  offices  in  Saco  and,  with 
his  associates, organized  the  SacoBank  and  served  as  its  first  president. 

Colonel  Cutts  owned  many  farms  and  large  tracts  of  land  in 
various  parts  of  Maine.  Some  of  the  horses,  oxen  and  other  stock 
on  his  farms  were  let  at  halves,  and  the  story  is  told  of  how  a  farmer's 
wife  one  day  brought  him  two  little  kittens  which  she  explained  were 
one-half  of  the  increase  of  farm  stock. 

In  his  own  prosperity  he  did  not  forget  the  needs  of  others. 
\\  hen  he  put  down  a  barrel  of  pork  or  beef  for  himself  he  prepared 
another  for  the  poor. 

34 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


THE  OLD  HALEY  HOUSE 

Residence  of  the  Haley  family,  from  which  the  owner,  John  Haley,  was  lured 
by  a  cow-bell  into  an  Indian  ambuscade,  where  he  was  killed. 

The  Colonel's  children  received  the  best  education  which  that 
period  afforded.  The  sons  were  sent  to  Andover  Academy  and  one 
also  went  to  Harvard,  while  the  girls  were  educated  in  Boston. 
Mrs.  Cutts  is  described  as  "a  tall,  well  proportioned  lady,  with  a 
strong  face  but  not  handsome."  From  all  accounts  she  was  a  model 
wife  in  every  way.  That  their  children  loved  and  respected  their 
parents  may  be  seen  from  the  following  letter  written  by  one  of 
the  daughters: 

"Honrd  Papa  &  Mama, 

"1  imbrace  this  favorable  opportunity  of  acquainting  you  I  am  perfectly 
well  &  very  happily  situated. 

"Give  me  leave  to  assure  my  dear  Papa  &  Mama  it  shall  be  my  constant 
study  to  make  improvements  sufficient  to  compensate  for  all  the  trouble  &  ex- 
penses I  am  sensible  I  put  you  both  to.  I  shall  be  extremely  obliged  to  my  dear 
Mama  to  be  so  kind  as  to  send  me  a  skirt  &  some  stockings,  anything  from  Mama 
will  be  gratefully  received  from  her  loving  daughter. 

"I  have  nothing  more  to  add  but  to  request  my  love  to  brothers  and  sisters. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Druitt  desires  their  most  respectful  compliments  to  you  both. 

"Believe  me  to  be  with  the  greatest  respect  &  esteem, 

"Your  ever  dutiful  and  obedient  daughter 

"MARY  CUTTS. 
"Newburyport, 
"Novr  9,  1779." 

PART  [II 


At  this  point  in  the  story  let  us  pause  and  glance  over  the  story 
of  cotton  which  fills  such  an  essential  role  in  the  manufacture  of 
Pepperell  sheeting.  Cotton  is  the  youngest  in  the  family  of  products 
used  in  the  making  of  textiles,  and  in  the  days  of  Lady  Pepperrell 


35 


si 

I! 

W    c 
g3 

^ 


H  -& 
<    g 


f 

PH      « 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


MAIN  STOREHOUSE,  CAPACITY  35,000  BALES 

Cotton  in  bales  taken  from  cars  that  bring  it   from  the  South.    It  is  roughly 
mixed  and  blown  through  tubes  into  Picker  Rooms. 

and  Mistress  Cutts,  cotton  was  almost  unknown,  most  fabrics  being 
made  of  either  wool,  flax,  or  silk,  though  in  the  far  East  cotton  has 
been  in  use  almost  since  the  beginning  of  history. 

COLUMBUS  DISCOVERED  COTTON  IN  AMERICA 

The  first  mention  of  cotton  in  America  occurs  in  the  journal  of 
Christopher  Columbus,  who,  under  date  of  October  12,  1492,  de- 
scribes the  natives  of  Watling  Island,  where  he  first  landed,  bringing 
among  other  things,  skeins  of  cotton  thread  out  to  his  ship. 

"Afterwards  when  we  were  in  the  ship's  boats,"  he  continues 
under  the  same  date,  "they  came  swimming  toward  us,  and  brought 
us  parrots  and  balls  of  cotton  thread  and  spears,  and  many  other 
things  which  they  exchanged  with  us  for  other  things  which  we  gave 
them,  such  as  strings  of  beads  and  little  bells." 

Under  date  of  October  13,  1492,  he  says  the  natives  were  ready 
to  trade  for  everything  down  to  bits  of  broken  crockery  and  glass. 
"I  saw  one  give  sixteen  skeins  of  cotton  for  three  of  ceotis  of  Portu- 

37 


the  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


A  PORTION  OF  THE  STOREHOUSE 

Sin-wine  i he  opened  bales  before  the  cotton  is  placed  in  the  hoppers  of  the 
Machines  which  break  it  up  and  distribute  it  onto 
a  moving  endless  belt. 


t'ul,  equal  to  one  blanca  of  Spain,  the  skeins  being  as  much  as  an 
arroba  of  cotton  thread.  I  shall  keep  it  and  shall  allow  no  one  to 
lake  it,  preserving  it  all  for  your  Royal  Highnesses,  for  it  may  be 
obtained  in  abundance.  It  is  grown  on  this  island,  though  the  short 
time  did  not  admit  of  my  ascertaining  this  for  a  certainty." 

He  subsequently  found  trees  of  cotton  of  sufficient  fine  quality 
to  be  woven  into  good  cloth.  He  also  saw  handkerchiefs  of  fine  cloth 
very  symmetrically  woven  and  worked  in  colors.  Under  date  of 
October  16,  he  speaks  of  seeing,  on  the  Island  of  Fernandina,  cotton 
cloth  made  into  mantles.  Speaking  again  under  date  of  October 
16  of  cotton,  Columbus  says  of  the  natives,  "Their  beds  and  bags 
for  holding  things  are  like  nets  made  of  cotton."  Here  Columbus 
says  they  "saw  married  women  wearing  breeches  made  of  cotton, 
but  the  girls  do  not,  except  some  who  have  reached  eighteen." 

This  is  especially  interesting  because  it  shows  that  very  early 
the  American  natives,  particularly  those  of  the  South,  not  only 
raised  cotton,  but  wove  it  into  fabrics  and  garments  of  various  kinds. 
Balls  of  native  cotton  spun  on  distaffs  by  natives  of  Guiana,  South 
America,  and  similar  to  those  spoken  of  by  Columbus,  are  to  be 
,  seen  in  the  museum  at  Georgetown,  Demerara. 

38 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


OPPOSITE  VIEW  OF  THE  OPENING  MACHINES  IN  STOREHOUSE 

Showing  endless  belt  in  the  foreground.    This  transmits  the  cotton  to  a  series 

of  huge   pneumatic   tubes  which  blow  it  to  the  several 

Picker  Rooms  of  the  mill. 


COLONIAL  USE  OF  COTTON  AS  A  GARDEN  FLOWER 

So  far  as  is  known,  the  first  mention  of  cotton  growing  in  the 
United  States  proper  is  by  de  Vaca,  who  found  it  in  1536  in  what 
is  now  the  States  of  Louisiana  and  Texas.  The  English  colonists 
sowed  the  first  cotton-seed  in  Virginia  in  1607.  In  1620  a  pamphlet, 
called  the  "Declaration  of  the  State  of  Virginia,"  stated  that  cotton 
wool  was  to  be  had  there  in  abundance,  and  in  1621  cotton  is  quoted 
at  eightpence  a  pound.  Many  travellers  mention  the  cultivation 
of  cotton  in  America  during  the  seventeenth  century  and  early 
half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  One  of  the  first  large  cargoes  of 
cotton  for  the  colonies  was  brought  to  Salem  by  the  ship  "Desire" 
in  1638.  The  "Trial"  was  the  first  vessel  to  unload  a  cargo  of  cotton 
at  Boston.  It  is  mentioned  in  Virginia  in  1649,  in  South  Carolina 
in  1664,  1682,  1702,  1731,  and  1741,  and  in  Georgia  in  1735,  1738, 
and  1749. 

39 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


VIKVV  OF  A  MILL  STREET 

the  tulu-s  through  which  the  cotton  is  blown  from  the  storehouse 
to  the  various  picker  rooms 

1 1  was  regarded,  however,  as  a  garden  plant  rather  than  for 
domestic  use  in  most  localities  except  parts  of  South  Carolina  and 
(icorgia,  and  it  was  not  until  after  the  Revolution  that  its  cultiva- 
tion began  on  a  large,  systematic  scale  in  the  South.  Apparently, 
cotton  was  used  more  extensively  in  the  South  than  it  was  in  New 
England  during  the  early  colonial  days. 

In  a  letter  written  by  Jefferson  in  1786,  there  is  found  the  fol- 
lowing paragraph: 

"The  four  southernmost  States  make  a  great  deal  of  cotton.  Their  poor 
[are  almost  entirely  clothed  with  it  in  winter  and  summer.  In  winter  they 
wear  shirts  of  it  and  outer  clothing  of  cotton  and  wool  mixed.  In  summer 
their  shirts  are  linen,  but  the  outer  clothing  cotton.  The  dress  of  the  women 
is  almost  entirely  of  cotton,  manufactured  by  themselves,  except  the  richer 
class,  and  even  many  of  these  wear  a  great  deal  of  home-spun  cotton.  It 
is  as  well  manufactured  as  the  calicoes  of  Europe.'' 

There  were  two  causes  which  militated  against  Southern  cotton 
LTowing  during  this  country's  connection  with  England.  The  first 
was  the  discouragement  by  England  of  the  establishment  of  any 
industry  in  this  country  that  would  compete  with  the  English  cotton 
industry;  and,  secondly,  there  were  no  means  of  cleaning  the  Ameri- 
can cotton  from  the  seed  even  after  it  was  grown,  so  that  it  was  only 
when  the  Revolution  cut  off  trade  with  England  that  the  Southern 

40 


"The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


cotton  growers,  stimulated  by  the  home  demands,  set  about  growing 
cotton  systematically. 

The  raw  cotton  was  purchased  by  the  colonists  in  small  quantities 
and  used  at  first  for  stuffing  bedquilts  and  petticoats  and  other  simi- 
lar purposes.  The  seeds  were  removed  by  hand,  one  by  one.  Some- 
times the  cotton  was  carded  on  the  wool-cards  and  spun  into  yarn 
which  was  used  as  warp  for  the  old-fashioned  fabric  known  as  linsey- 
woolsey,  and  also  for  rag  carpets.  Occasionally  one  thread  of  cotton 
and  one  of  wool  were  made  into  a  yarn  which  was  used  for  knitting 
stockings.  Its  possibilities  in  the  manufacture  of  cloth  were  un- 
dreamed of,  and  it  was  so  difficult  to  clean  that  the  demand  for  it 
was  very  small.  Even  Lady  Pepperrell,  who,  as  the  wife  of  one  of 
the  most  prosperous  merchants  of  colonial  times,  was  accustomed  to 
seeing  business  done  on  a  large  scale,  would  have  been  unable  to 
conceive  of  an  industry  as  vast  as  that  of  the  Pepperell  Manufac- 
turing Company  which  now  occupies  the  land  once,  owned  by  her 
husband  on  the  banks  of  the  Saco. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  speculate  upon  her  emotions,  could 
she  visit  even  one  of  the  storehouses  of  this  Company  today  and 
watch  the  loads  of  baled  cotton  from  the  South  as  they  are  taken 
from  the  cars  and  stored  in  the  immense  brick  building,  six  stories 
high,  which  stands  beside  the  railroad  track.  To  one  who  was  ac- 
customed to  seeing  only  a  few  pounds  of  cotton  at  a  time,  the  sight 
of  this  building  where  as  many  as  35,000  bales,  each  weighing  about 
500  pounds,  can  be  stored,  would  be  decidedly  bewildering.  And  if 
she  could  step  into  a  room  at  one  end  of  the  building  and  watch  the 
cotton  as  it  is  pulled  apart  in  hoppers  of  the  openers,  and  is  then 
drawn  into  the  mouth  of  a  large  tube  through  which  it  is  blown  all 
the  way  to  the  mills,  some  of  which  are  fully  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away, 
she  would  doubtless  declare  that  the  whole  thing  was  the  result  of 
black  magic. 

INVENTION  OF  THE  COTTON  GIN 

In  the  early  days  the  separation  of  the  cotton  from  the  seed  and 
boll  was  slow  and  tedious,  owing  to  the  work  being  done  by  the  hand 
labor  of  the  large  slave  population  of  the  South.  It  was  largely 
the  work  of  colored  women,  who  separated  the  seed  and  cleaned 
the  cotton  from  the  boll  with  their  finger-nails,  and  it  took  a  negro 
a  day  to  pick  a  pound  of  cotton  from  the  boll  and  separate  it  from 
the  entangled  seed.  All  that  could  be  produced  in  the  year  1792 
was  138,324  pounds. 

The  invention  of  the  cotton  gin,  perfected  in  April,  1793,  by 
Eli  Whitney,  a  graduate  of  Yale,  revolutionized  the  industry,  and 


Tht  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL        

cabled  a  negro  to  clean  five  thousand  pounds  of  cotton  a  day, 

orch    greatly  increasing  the  supply  of  American  cotton.     Indeed 

S  a  few  years  of  the  invention  of  the  gin  the  products  had 

"   L  from  the  one  hundred  thousand  and  odd  pounds  to  many 

Sons  of  pounds  of  cotton  a  year,  and  had  simulated  the  cotton 

Uwtry   so  greatly  that  the  production  of  cotton   goods  led   all 


FIRST  PROCESS  OF  MANUFACTURE 

ton  arriving  from  storehouse  tubes,  being  automatically  dropped  into  hoppers 
of  Opener  Pickers. 

others.  As  a  boy,  young  Whitney  had  given  evidence  of  his  re- 
markable inventive  genius,  for  he  was  constantly  experimenting 
along  various  lines.  Once  while  his  father  was  at  church  the  boy 
took  his  watch  to  pieces  and  then  successfully  put  the  different  parts 
back  again.  After  his  graduation  from  Yale  he  decided  to  study 
law:  and,  to  secure  the  necessary  means,  he  became  a  tutor  in  the 
family  of  General  Nathaniel  Greene,  near  Savannah,  Georgia. 
One  Jay  some  gentlemen  who  were  visiting  at  this  home  commented 
upon  the  slow  process  which  was  required  to  remove '  the  cotton 
•seed  from  the  boll.  Mrs.  Greene  suggested  that  they  get  her  young 

42 


ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


PICKER  ROOM 

When  four  rolls  of  cotton  (known  as  "laps")  have  been  delivered  from  the  Opener 
Picker  they  are  simultaneously  fed  into  the  Intermediate  Picker.  Four  rolls  are 

then  taken  from  the  Intermediate  Picker  and  fed  into  the  Finisher  Picker.  The 
product  of  the  Finisher  Picker  is  then  fed  into  a  Carding  machine.  The  purpose 

of  the  Picker  machines  is  to  clean  the  cotton,  which  they  accomplish  by  means  of 
fans  and  beaters  and  also  to  form  it  into  a  roll  of  uniform  thickness. 


friend,  Mr.  Whitney,  to  invent  some  means  of  doing  the  work  more 
swiftly,  declaring  that  he  could  make  anything.  At  this  time  Whit- 
ney had  never  seen  cotton  or  cotton  seed,  but  he  hunted  up  some 
the  next  day  and  immediately  set  to  work  upon  his  invention,  which 
was  completed  in  April,  1793. 

Cotton  could  now  be  used  to  a  far  greater  extent  than  ever  before, 
but  it  took  James  Hargreaves'  invention  of  the  spinning-jenny  and 
Cartwright's  power  looms  to  place  cotton  manufacturing  upon  a  firm 
industrial  basis. 

After  undergoing  the  process  of  ginning,  cotton  was  shipped 
to  the  locality  where  it  was  to  be  spun.  But  even  then  it  usually 
retained  a  great  deal  of  leaf  and  other  foreign  matter  enmeshed  in 
its  fibre. 

This  was  removed  by  the  process  of  "Willowing"  which  was 
so  called  because  the  cotton  spread  on  a  light  hammock  of  cords, 
called  the  bowstring,  was  beaten  with  willow  switches.  The  process 
dated  back  to  prehistoric  times.  Cotton  for  fine  spinning  was  care- 

43 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


fully  washed,  and  was  always  soaked  with  water  and  dried  so  that 
t lie  fibres  would  cling  together. 

FIRST  STEPS   IN  Till-:  INVENTION  OF  COTTON-MAKING 

MACHINERY 

Hurd's  History  of  Middlesex  County  quotes  Daniel  Knapp  as 
riving  this  account  of  the  way  cotton  was  cleaned:  "In  the  spring 
of  1814  my  parents  were  young  laboring  people,  with  five  small 
children,  the  oldest  not  over  eleven  years  old.  We  had  the  cotton 
brought  to  our  house  by  the  bale  to  pick  to  pieces  and  get  out  the 
seeds  and  dirt.  We  children  had  to  pick  so  many  pounds  per  day 
as  a  stint.  We  had  a  whipping  machine  made  four  feet  square,  and 
about  three  feet  from  the  floor  was  a  bedcord  running  across  from 
knob  to  knob  near  together,  on  which  we  put  a  parcel  of  cotton, 
and  with  two  whip  sticks  we  tightened  it  up  and  got  out  the  dirt 
and  made  it  ready  for  the  card." 

The  carding  process  which  followed,  and  which  in  turn  was 
followed  by  the  spinning,  consisted  of  combing  the  cotton  between 
two  surfaces  of  wire  bristles. 


USE  OF  'rill-    DISTAFF  AND  SPINDLE 

The  use  of  the  distaff  and  spindle  was  the  first  step  in  the  inven- 
tion of  textile  machinery,  and  began  at  so  very  remote  a  time  it  is 
impossible  to  fix  it.  Earliest  records  on  stone,  brick,  and  papyrus, 
of  the  Assyrians,  Babylonians,  and  Egyptians,  picture  the  use  of 
the  rock,  or  distaff,  and  the  spindle,  and  Solomon,  Homer,  and 
Herodotus  frequently  allude  to  it.  The  distaff  is  said  to  have  been 
introduced  into  England  by  Anthony  Bonvoise,  an  Italian,  during 
the  twentieth  year  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII,  and  then  began  the 
making  of  Devonshire  kerseys  and  Coxal  cloths. 

The  spindle,  as  it  has  been  from  time  immemorial,  was  a  round 
stick  of  wood  about  a  foot  long,  which  tapered  at  each  end.  A  ring 
of  stone  or  clay,  or  sometimes  potato,  girded  the  upper  part  of  it  to 
^ivc  it  steadiness  and  momentum  when  it  revolved.  At  the  extreme 
upper  end  there  was  a  notch,  or  slit,  into  which  the  yarn  was  caught. 
The  distaff,  or  rock,  was  a  longer,  stouter  stick,  around  one  end  of 
which,  in  a  loose  ball,  the  material  to  be  spun  was  wound. 

The  spinner  either  fixed  the  other  end  of  the  rock  in  her  girdle 
or  carried  it  under  her  left  arm,  so  that  the  coil  of  material  was  in 
a  convenient  position  to  draw  out  to  form  the  yarn.  The  end  of  the 
yarn,  after  being  prepared,  was  inserted  in  the  notch,  and  the  spinner 

44 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


DISTAFF  SPINNING 

From  a  print  of  an  old  sketch  reproduced  in    "The  Story  of  Textiles. : 


set  the  spindle  in  motion  by  quickly  rolling  it  with  the  right  hand 
against  the  right  leg,  and  thus  throwing  it  out,  spinning  in  the  air. 
Meanwhile  the  spinner  drew  from  the  rock  with  the  left  hand  an 
additional  supply  of  fibre,  which  was  formed  by  the  right  hand  into 
a  uniform  and  equal  strand.  After  the  yarn  was  sufficiently  twisted, 
it  was  released  from  the  notch  and  wound  around  the  lower  part  of 
the  spindle,  and  again  fixed  in  the  notch  at  the  point  insufficiently 
twisted.  Thus  the  rotating,  twisting,  and  drawing  operations  went 
on  until  the  spindle  was  full.  In  this  way,  spinning  was  practised 
in  prehistoric  and  ancient  times.  And  in  the  self-same  way  it  is 
today  done  in  some  remote  sections  of  Scotland.  Yarns  of  greatest 
fineness  and  strength  are  still  spun  in  this  way. 

The  first  improvement  in  this  method  of  spinning  was  the  con- 
struction of  the  hand  wheel,  in  which  the  spindle,  mounted  in  a  frame, 
was  fixed  horizontally,  and  rotated  by  a  band  passing  around  a  large 
wheel  set  in  the  framework.  Such  a  wheel  has  been  used  from  pre- 
historic times  in  the  East,  but  was  not  introduced  into  Europe  until 
about  the  fourteenth  century. 

45 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


SPINNING  WHEEL  INVENTED  IN  1533 

The  earliest  manuscript  that  mentions  the  spinning  wheel  was 
written  in  the  fourteenth  century,  and  is  in  the  British  Museum. 
This  wheel  was  evidently  one  at  which  a  woman  stood,  for  that  which 
came  into  general  use  is  said  to  have  been  invented  in  1533  by  a 
cili/.rn  of  Brunswick,  and  was  the  first  wheel  at  which  a  woman  could 
sit.  Other  improvements  enabling  one  to  spin  with  a  treadle  move- 
ment, and  thus  allowing  the  spinner  to  work  with  both  hands  free, 
were  added  at  later  dates  that  cannot  be  fixed.  Thus  came  into 
use  the  spinning  wheel  as  our  forbears  used  it  in  the  homespun  in- 
dustries of  New  England  and  as  it  is  still  used  in  the  isolated  rural 
districts  of  Ireland,  Scotland,  and  Europe. 


From  a  print  of  an  old  sketch,  reproduced  in  "The  Story  of  Textiles" 

H\M>   CARDING,   ROVING,   AND   SPINNING   BY  THE   HAND   WHEEL 

Figure  i  shows  the  hand  cards  with  wire  teeth  and  wooden  backs.    The  cotton   after 

hemg :  combed  between  them,  was  scraped  off  in  rolls  about  twelve  inches  long 

ree-quarters  of  an  inch  in  diameter.     These  rolls,  known  as  cardings,  were 
raun  <.ut   into  rovmga  on  the  hand  wheel  shown  in  Figure  2     The  card  nes 
arc  lyn™s  t    e  knee  of  the  rove,  in  Figure  2.    The  roving  were  taken  to  Figure 

L  spun  mto  welt.    On  the  sp.ndle  of  Figure  3  the  weft  was  finallv  prepared 
be  weaver.     In  roving,  the  cardings  were  drawn  out  at  an  angle  of  forty  toforty- 

I  t       7'"^  ^  'T^'     In  Splnnin*'  the  ro™Ss  were  *"™ 
t  a  right  angle.    The  hand  wheel  was  one  of  the  first  mechanical  appli- 
ances used  in  woolen  manufacture. 

46 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


LAP  FROM  FINISHER  PICKER  ENTERING  REVOLVING  FLAT  CARD 

Mere  the  fine  teeth  of  the  card  clothing  gather  any  dirt  or  leaf  that  may  have  gone 
^  through  the  picker.    The  cotton  comes  from  the  cards  in  the  form  of  a  rope-like 
"sliver"  and  is  automatically  coiled  into  cylindrical  cans  which  are  carried  to  the 
nearby  Drawing  Frames. 


It  was  not  long  before  every  woman  in  England  spun,  and  terms 
of  the  industry  had  become  a  part  of  the  language.  Thus  spear  side 
and  distaff  side  of  the  house  became  the  legal  terms  respectively 
for  the  male  and  female  lines  of  inheritance.  Spinster  was  and  is 
still  the  English  term  for  unmarried  women.  January  7  was  jocu- 
larly called  St.  Distaff's  Day,  or  Rock  Day,  and  signified  the  re- 
sumption of  spinning  after  the  rest  of  the  Christmas  holidays. 

It  was  not  until  Arkwright's  invention  of  the  water  frame 
just  before  our  War  of  Independence  that  much  warp  yarn  strong 
enough  to  stand  the  weaving  process  was  spun  from  cotton  fibre. 
Before  this  warps  had  been  made,  either  of  wool  or  flax.  Accordingly 
in  Lady  PepperrelPs  time  it  is  not  probable  that  much  cotton  was 
spun.  There  was,  however,  a  great  deal  of  interest  taken  in  the  spin- 
ning of  wool  and  linen. 

47 


•I'hc  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


SONCi  OK  THK  SPINNING  WHEEL 

\<.\v  the  song  of  the  spinning  wheel  is  silenced.  Never  again  will 
its  music  he  heard  in  the  villages  and  hamlets  of  New  England. 
In  its  place,  as  though  the  echo  had  been  caught  and  magnified 
many  fold,  one  hears  the  whirring  of  millions  of  spindles  in  the 
great  mills  of  America's  "spindle  cities.1'  Vet  in  countless  homes 
throughout  the  country  one  may  still  see,  dust-shrouded  and  half 
forgotten  in  some  obscure  attic  corner,  the  old-fashioned  spinning 
wheel  of  other  days. 

Its  work  is  finished;  but  like  a  mute  messenger  from  the  past,  it 
brings  to  mind  those  picturesque  days  of  long  ago,  when  the  light 
of  the  blazing  logs  in  the  huge  colonial  fireplace  fell  with  a  cheerful 
glow  upon  the  bare,  rough-hewn  walls  and  floor,  and  lingered  lovingly 
upon  the  quaint  figure  of  the  young  girl  standing  beside  a  large  spin- 
ning wheel.  Across  the  bench  which  forms  the  lower  part  of  the  wheel 
lie  rolls  of  white  wool  which  she  has  spent  many  hours  in  preparing. 
The  fleeces  had  to  be  opened  up  and  cleaned  of  all  the  sticks,  burs 
and  other  dirt  which  they  contained.  Then  had  come  the  disagree- 
able process  of  greasing  it  with  "melted  swine's  grease,"  about  three 
pounds  of  which  had  to  be  thoroughly  worked  into  ten  pounds  of  the 
wool.  After  this  she  had  patiently  carded  out  the  fibers  on  crude 
hand  cards  which  consisted  of  rectangular  pieces  of  board  with  han- 
dles. Over  each  board  had  been  fastened  a  piece  of  stout  leather  set 
with  bent  wire  teeth.  Taking  one  of  these  cards  in  her  left  hand 
and  resting  it  on  her  knee,  she  had  drawn  a  tuft  of  wool  across  its 
spiked  surface  several  times,  until  the  soft  fibers  had  caught  upon 
the  wire  teeth.  Then  she  had  taken  the  second  card,  which  had  to  be 
warmed,  and  drawn  it  across  the  first  until  the  fibers  were  all  brushed 
parallel.  Finally,  with  a  deft  movement,  she  had  carded  the  wool 
into  the  small,  fleecy  rolls  which  arc  lying  across  the  lower  part  of 
the  wheel,  ready  for  spinning. 

She  makes  a  fascinating  picture  as  she  moves  gracefully  back 
and  forth,  drawing  and  winding  the.  yarn.  In  her  right  hand  she 
holds  .-.  wooden  peg,  about  nine  inches  long  and  perhaps  an  inch  in 
diameter.  This  was  called  a  "driver"  or  "wheel-peg"  and  was  used 
to  turn  the  wheel.  With  her  left  hand  the  spinner  picks  up  one  of 
the  long  slender  rolls  of  wool  and  deftly  winds  the  end  of  the  fibers 
on  the  point  of  the  spindle.  Giving  a  gentle  motion  to  the  wheel 
with  the  wooden  peg,  she  takes  hold  of  the  roll  at  the  right  distance 
from  the  spindle  to  allow  for  a  "drawing."  The  low  humming  of 
the  wheel  rises  to  a  musical  whirring;  the  spinner  steps  swiftly  back- 
ward, holding  the  yarn  as  it  is  twisted  by  the  swiftly  revolving  spin- 

48 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


DRAWING  FRAMES 

Six  coiled  "slivers"  taken  from  six  cans  and  passed  through  four  pair  of  steel  rolls, 

which  on  account  of  their  relative  speed  attenuate  the  six  "slivers"  into  one. 

This  is  then  coiled  into  a  can  at  the  front  of  the  Drawing  Frame. 


dies,  and  then,  moving  forward,  allows  it  to  wind  up,  either  on  the 
spindle  itself  or  upon  a  spool  or  "broach"  placed  at  the  end  of  the 
spindle  and  revolving  with  it.  This  motion  is  repeated  over  and  over. 
One  can  fancy  the  girl's  lover  standing  near,  admiring  her  graceful 
movements  and  watching  almost  hopelessly  for  an  opportune  moment 
to  steal  a  kiss! 

When  the  broach,  which  is  often  only  a  corn  cob  or  a  roll  of  husks, 
was  filled,  the  yarn  was  reeled  off  into  skeins.  This  was  done  in 
various  ways.  Sometimes  the  belt  was  removed  from  the  wheel, 
and  wooden  pegs  placed  in  certain  holes  in  the  spokes.  The  end  of 
the  yarn  was  tied  to  one  of  these  and  the  wheel  turned  until  it  was 
wound  into  a  hank,  two  yards  in  circumference.  Skilful  workers 
could  sometimes  spin  six  skeins  of  yarn  a  day.  It  is  estimated  that 
the  walking  back  and  forth  required  to  do  this  amounted  to  over 
twenty  miles. 

When  a  firm,  closely  twisted  thread  was  desired  for  the  weaving 
of  a  stiff  cloth,  the  woolen  yarn  was  spun  twice,  the  tirsi  spinning 
being  referred  to  as  the  roving.  One  spinning,  however,  was  suffi- 
cient for  ordinary  knitting  yarn. 

The  maidens  and  housewives  of  those  days  prided  themselves  on 
their  ability  to  spin  fine  yarn.  In  her  book  entitled,  "Home  Lite 
in  Colonial  Days,"  Alice  Morse  Earle  tells  of  a  certain  Mistress  Mary 

49 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


Prigge  who  spun  a  pound  of  wool  into  fifty  hanks  of  eighty-four 
thousand  yards,  nearly  forty-eight  miles  in  all.  During  the  girlhood 
of  Lady  PcppcrrcU,  the  belles  of  Boston  took  part  in  a  big  spinning- 
bee  on  the  Common.  Schools  were  established  and  everything 
\\a^  dune  to  promote  the  art. 


TYPICAL  CARD  ROOM  ROVING  FRAMES  ("Intermediates") 
The  process  of  combining  two  or  more  strands  into  one  is  known  as  "doubling."    The 

process  of  attenuating  the  strands  is  known  as  "drawing."     Practically  all  the 

machinery  from  the  Pickers  up  to  and  including  the  Spinning  Frames  either  double  or 

draw  the  strands  and  some  do  both. 


A   PKN  PIC'IVRK  OF  COLONIAL  SPINNING 

It  took  weeks  and  sometimes  months  before  the  fleece  from  the 
backs  of  the  sheep  could  be  transformed  into  the  coarse  home-spun 
garments  worn  by  the  majority  of  the  people  in  those  days.  The 
story  is  told,  however,  of  a  Massachusetts  woman  and  her  daughters 
who,  during  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  sheared  one  black  and  one 
white  sheep,  carded  out  a  grey  wool,  spun  and  wove  it  into  cloth  and 
vut  and  madr  a  MJ'I!  of  clothes  for  a  buy  to  wear  to  the  war,  all  in 

50 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


one  day  and  night!     It  would  be  difficult  to  break  such  a  record  as 
that,  even  with  the  modern  machinery  of  today. 

During  the  rush  of  the  busy  day  and  in  the  quiet  of  the  evening 
by  the  flickering  light  of  the  fire,  the  work  went  on.  There  were  few 
idle  moments  for  the  members  of  those  old  colonial  households. 
From  the  white-haired  grandmother  who,  in  spite  of  her  dimming 
eyesight,  was  able  to  card  out  the  rolls  of  wool  for  the  spinning  wheel, 
to  the  little  girl  who  sat  at  a  small  wheel  filling  the  bobbins  with  yarn 
ready  for  the  loom — all  were  busy.  It  was  the  skilful  fingers  of  the 
father  who  fashioned  the  wool-cards,  piercing  the  leather  back  with 
an  awl  and  setting  in  and  clenching,  one  by  one,  the  bent  wire  teeth 
which  he  had  cut  from  a  long  length  of  wire. 


INTERMEDIATES  IN  ANOTHER  CARD  ROOM 

The  Roving  Machinery  follows  the  Drawing  Frames.     By  the  time  the  strands  of 
cotton  have  reached  these  machines  they  have  become  so  attenuated  that  unlc 

a  twist  be  inserted  in  them  they  would  easily  break  apart.    The  Roving  Machine 
(Slubber,  Intermediate,  and  Fly  Frame)  therefore  insert  a  slight  amount  of  tw 

as  well  as  fulfilling  their  other  functions.    When  the  strands  pass  through  the  Spinning 

Frame,  however,  the  strands  are  given  their  final  twist  and  in  that  way  arc-  made 

strong  enough  to  be  woven  into  cloth. 

Si 


ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


EARLY  INVENTIONS 

Not  until  ^1784  was  there  invented  a  machine  which  would  cut 
and  bend  thirty-six  thousand  of  those  wire  teeth  an  hour  The 
women  and  children  could  then  purchase  them  by  the  box  also 
bundles  of  the  leather  strips  which  had  been  pierced  by  another 
machine.  It  was  then  a  comparatively  easy  matter  for  them  to  set 
the  teeth  themselves  as  they  sat  about  the  fireplace  in  the  evening,  or 
gathered  in  the  afternoon  at  the  home  of  some  neighbor  for  a  friendly 
chat;  for  even  the  few  social  affairs  "of  these  pioneers  were  closely 
allied  to  the  stern  tasks  which  confronted  them  in  their  struggle  for 
existence. 


ANOTHER  SPINNING  ROOM 


One  by  one  the  magic  hand  of  invention  removed  these  tiresome 
tasks  from  the  weary  shoulders  of  the  colonial  housewives.  In  the 
latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  Amos  \\hittemore  invented  a 
machine  which  in  a  short  space  of  time  could  turn  out  a  fully  made 
card.  Finally,  carding  engines  were  invented  in  England — the 
forerunners  of  those  marvelous  machines  now  used  in  the  mills  of 
the  Pepperell  Manufacturing  Company,  which  draw  in  the  soft 
rolls  of  cotton  lap,  or  batting,  and  carry  them  under  a  succession  ot 
revolving  flats.  The  fine  wire  teeth  brush  off  a  thin  film  of  the 

53 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


cotton,  which  emerges  from  the  machine  in  a  delicate  white  misty 
veil.  When  the  carding  machines  were  installed  in  the  mills  of  the 
United  States,  the  hand  cards  were  gradually  abandoned,  and  people 
sent  their  wool  to  the  mills  to  be  carded,  even  when  it  was  spun  and 
woven  at  home.  It  was  not  an  uncommon  thing  in  those  days  to  see 
a  young  farmer's  girl  riding  along  the  country  lanes,  from  the  mill, 
with  a  home-spun  sheet  filled  with  wool  towering  up  behind  her. 

THE  BEGINNING  OF  COTTON   MILLS 

In  1789  there  arrived  in  New  York  the  man  who  has  universally 
been  called  "the  father  of  the  American  cotton  industry."  This 
was  Samuel  Slater,  who  put  into  successful  operation  in  this 
country  the  system  of  cotton  machines  perfected  by  Richard  Ark- 
wright,  the  Englishman  who  in  1769  had  erected  at  Nottingham  the 
first  practical  cotton  mills  in  the  world.  While  Slater  was  running  his 
mill  at  Pawtucket,  he  boarded  with  a  family  by  the  name  of  Wilkin- 
son. It  was  Hannah,  the  daughter  of  this  family  and  later  Slater's 
wife,  who  conceived  the  idea  of  taking  some  fine  Surinam  cotton  yarn 
which  Slater  had  spun  and  twisting  it  on  her  own  spinning  wheel  for 
sewing  thread,  in  place  of  the  linen  twisted  yarn.  This  led  in  1793 
to  the  manufacture  of  the  first  cotton  thread  in  America. 


A  REMINISCENCE  OF  BIDDEFORD 

Mrs.  Miriam  Mitchell,  one  of  Biddeford's  very  old  ladies,  being 
now  over  ninety  years  of  age,  who  lives  within  a  few  miles  of  the 
Pepperell  Mills,  tells  of  how  her  mother  used  to  get  the  unginned 
cotton  from  the  South,  pick  it  out  of  the  boll,  card  it  with  hand  cards 
and  spin  it  on  the  old  spinning  wheel,  warp  it  onto  the  looms,  weave 
it  and  dye  it,  and  make  it  into  dresses  for  herself — the  whole  process 
done  by  hand!  She  says  that  one  day  during  the  war  of  1812  her 
mother,  who  was  then  a  child  of  twelve,  was  weaving  some  cloth  on 
the  loom,  when  a  British  vessel  which  had  come  into  Biddeford 
Pool  to  destroy  the  shipping  of  Captain  Thomas  Cutts,  fired  some 
cannon  balls  over  the  town.  Many  of  the  inhabitants  ran  and  hid 
themselves,  but  her  mother,  fearing  that,  if  she  left  the  nearly 
completed  cloth  on  the  loom,  the  British  would  destroy  it,  continued 
with  her  work  until  it  was  finished  and  then  ran  and  hid  it  in  the 
pasture. 

THE  OLD  HAND  LOOM 

Hand  weaving,  now  an  almost  forgotten  art  in  Nr\v  England, 
was  practised  quite  extensively  in  the  r..|.>nial  days.  The  uld- 

55 


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The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


A  WEAVER  AT  AN  OLD  FASHIONED  HAND  L(X)M 

a  photograph  owned  by  the  Draper  Company  showing  the  primitive 
construction  of  the  hand  loom. 


fashioned  loom  consisted  of  a  frame  of  four  square  wooden 
about  seven  feet  high,  placed  about  as  far  apart  as  the  posts  of  the 
old-time  four-post  bedstead.  Across  the  back  of  the  loom  stretched 
the  yarn-beam,  about  which  the  parallel  warp-threads  were  wound 
and  stretched  to  the  cloth  beam  at  the  front  of  the  loom. 


MORE  OF  THE  OLD   HAM)   LOOM 

A  rather  romantic  accessory  to  the  loom  was  the  curious  little 
contrivance  known  as  the  "swift";  a  revolving,  cylindrical  frame 
upon  which  the  skein  of  yarn  was  placed  preparatory  to  winding  it 
off  on  the  bobbins  for  the  shuttles  or  the  spools  for  the  warp.  Lovers 
often  made  presents  of  beautifully  carved  swifts  to  the  young  ladies 
of  their  choice.  Such  a  gift  must  have  served  as  an  inspiration  to  the 
weary  worker  during  the  slow  process  of  weaving.  The  threads  of 
the  warp  had  to  be  placed  in  regular  order  upon  the  warp  beam  and 
set  in  the  loom.  Then  came  the  "drawing  in,"  where  the  end  of 
each  warp-thread  was  drawn  with  a  warping  needle  in  regular  order 
through  the  eye  of  the  harness,  or  "heddle,"  which  consisted  of  a 

57 


WARPER  BEAMS  AT  BACK  OF  SLASHERS 

Warper  beams  being  unwound  behind  Slashers.     The  yarn  passes  through  a  trough 

of  boiling  starch,  is  then  dried  on  huge  steam-filled  cylinders,  and  is  finally  wound 

on  the  Loom  Beam  at  the  front. 


FRONT  VIEW  OF  SLASHER  IN  DRESSING  ROOM 

Showing  Loom  Beam  with  yarn  being  wound  onto  it. 


The  ROMANCE  of  1'KITKRKU, 


row  of  twines  or  wires  stretched  vertically  between  two  horizontal 
bars  which  were  about  a  foot  apart,  the  upper  being  suspended  by  a 
pulley  at  the  top  of  the  loom  and  the  lower  fastened  to  the  foot- 
treadle.  The  eye  through  which  the  warp-thread  was  drawn  was  in 
the  center  of  each  length  of  twine  or  wire.  The  warp  was  next 
drawn  through  the  "sley,"  or  reed,  which  was  composed  of  short. 
thin  strips  of  cane  or  metal  set  between  two  parallel  bars  of  wood. 
The  reed  was  placed  in  a  groove  along  the  lower  edge  of  a  heavy 
batten  which,  supported  by  two  side  bars,  swung  back  and  forth 
from  an  axle  at  the  top  of  the  loom,  and  as  it  swung,  the  reed  forced 
every  newly  woven  thread  of  the  weft  into  place  with  the  sharp  blow 
which  made  the  thwacking  sound  always  associated  with  weaving 
at  these  hand  looms. 


PROCESS  OF  HAND  WEAVING 

The  actual  process  of  weaving  was  threefold.  By  the  action  of  our 
foot-treadle,  one  harness,  or  "heddle,"  which  held  every  alternate 
warp-thread  was  lowered  beneath  the  level  of  the  rest  of  the  warp, 
forming  an  opening  through  which  the  weaver  threw  the  shuttle  con- 
taining the  weft,  or  filler,  thread  from  one  side  of  the  loom  to  the 
other.  The  third  step  was  the  crowding  of  this  thread  into  place 
by  the  batten.  Another  foot-treadle  forced  down  the  other  warp- 
threads,  which  were  drawn  through  a  second  set  of  harnesses,  and 
the  shuttle  was  thrown  back;  and  so  the  process  went  on  until  yards 
of  this  durable  home-spun  fabric  had  been  produced. 

During  the  summer  of  1775  there  was  heard  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  New  England  the  busy  humming  of  the  spin- 
ning wheel  and  the  "thwack-thwack"  of  the  hand  looms,  as  the 
patriotic  women  of  the  colonies  hastened  to  prepare  thirteen  thousand 
warm  coats  for  Washington's  army,  which  was  jeeringly  referred  to 
by  the  English  as  the  " Home-spuns." 

OLD-TIME  BLEACHINC;  AND  DYEING 

The  materials  which  were  not  dyed  were  generally  bleached  by  a 
slow  and  tedious  process.  In  the  old  method  of  bleaching  practised  in 
England  probably  as  early  as  the  sixteenth  century,  sour  milk  and 
cow's  dung  were  first  used.  The  linen  was  then  steeped  in  waste 
lye;  and  for  a  week  boiling  hot  potash  lye  was  poured  over  it,  after 
which  it  was  taken  out  and  washed  and  then  put  into  wooden  vats 
of  buttermilk,  where  it  was  allowed  to  remain  under  pressure  for 
five  or  six  days.  Finally  it  was  spread  on  the  grass  and  left  there 
for  several  months,  care  being  taken  to  keep  it  wet.  This  latter  part 

59 


WEB  DRAWERS  AT  WORK 
Loom  Beam  containing  starched  yarn  placed  on  a  rack,  high  enough  to  be  easily 

reached.    Each   end  of  yarn   is  drawn   by   hand    through    Eyes   in   the    Loom 
Harnesses.    The  number  of  Harnesses  determines  the  pattern  or  twill  on  the  surface 

of  the  cloth.    Then  the  threads  are  further  drawn  through  slits   in  a  narrow 

Rccd  which  keeps  them  separated  during  the  weaving  process.    The  tool  used  by  the 

operative  in  this  Web  Drawing  process  is  a  thin  steel  hook. 

60 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


\V.\RP  TYING  MACHINES 
A   modern    method    to   avoid  the  necessity  of   "drawing  in"   every    warp.      It   can 

only  be    used    where    the    same    style  of   cloth  is  continued,   and  consists    of 

tying  each   thread  of  a  new  warp  to  the  corresponding  thread  of  the  old  one  just 

running  out.    The  warps  are  then  ready  to  go  to  the  looms  in  Weave  Room. 


of  the  process  was  called  crofting,  while  the  steeping  in  the  lyes  was 
known  as  bucking.  It  often  required  from  six  to  eight  months  to 
complete  the  process,  during  which  time  linen  was  apt  to  be  stolen. 
This  led  to  an  enactment  by  George  II  which  made  such  an  act  a 
serious  offense,  punishable  by  death. 

Gradually  various  improvements  were  made  in  the  process  of 
bleaching.  Dr.  Francis  Home  of  Edinburgh  discovered  the  value  of 
sulphuric  acid  as  a  substitute  for  sour  milk  in  the  souring  process, 
which  could  then  be  accomplished  in  a  few  hours  where  it  had  formerly 
taken  days  and  weeks. 

The  value  of  chlorine  as  a  bleaching  agent  was  discovered  in  1774 
by  C.  W.  Sheele,  the  Swedish  chemist.  The  discovery  was  due  to 
his  accidently  noticing  that  the  cork  of  the  bottle  which  contained 
his  chlorine  had  been  bleached  by  the  action  of  the  chemical.  Im- 
pressed by  its  great  possibilities,  the  eminent  French  chemist, 
Claude  Louis  Berthollet,  applied  chlorine  to  the  bleaching  of  fab- 

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SHEARING  ROOM 

Cloth  from  looms  is  scxvn  together  at  ends  of  Cuts,  and  is  then  run  through  machines 
which  simply  brush  and  clean  off  loose  threads  or  other  dirt.  Tiicn  it  pocs  to 

the  folders. 

rics,  with  great  success.  He  showed  his  experiment  to  James  Wall, 
the  English  inventor,  in  1 786,  and  the  latter  commenced  to  use  chlorine 
on  the  bleach-field  of  his  father-in-law,  near  Glasgow.  Later  it  was 
discovered  that,  by  the  use  of  eau  de  Javel,  much  of  the  injurious  and 
unpleasant  odor  arising  from  the  use  of  the  chlorine  was  removed. 


PERFECTING  THE  Oil)   PROCESSES 

And  so  the  process  was  constantly  being  perfected.  Today  the 
bales  of  cotton  cloth  from  the  Pepperell  Mills  are  sent  to  the  Lcwistmi 
Bleachery  and  Dye  Works  in  which  the  Pcppcrcll  Manufacturing 
Company  is  the  largest  stockholder.  Here  the  various  cut;  arr 
sewn  together  on  a  circular  sewing  machine  and  by  a  series  of 
are  pulled  in  a  long  rope-like  strand  through  porcelain-lined  "pot 
eyes"  in  the  ceiling  or  wall,  to  the  various  rooms  where  the  bleaching 
process  is  carried  on.  From  lime  machine  to  kier,  on  through  "log- 
washers  "  and  sulphuric  acid  baths  to  the  bleaching  powder  solution, 
it  is  reeled  and  is  finally  washed  in  pure  spring  water,  starched,  ironed 
and  folded  into  neat  pieces  of  snowy-white  sheeting  bearing  the 
familiar  label  of  the  Pcppcrcll  Manufacturing  Company. 

63 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


LEW1STON  BLKACHERY  AND  DYE  WORKS,  LEWISTON,  MAINE 
The  largest  owner  of  the  stock  of  this  Bleachery  is  the  Pepperell  Mfg.  Co. 

AMERICAN   EFFORT  TO  SECURE    ENGLISH    MACHINES 

The  Revolutionary  War,  bringing  with  it  the  suspension  of  trade 
with  England,  from  whence  had  come  most  of  the  cloth  used  by  the 
colonies,  had  started  American  looms  weaving  on  their  own  ac- 
count, and  the  industry  was  soon  well  under  way. 

When  the  war  was  over,  movements  were  started  to  promote 
American  industries,  but  these  were  hampered  by  the  fact  that 
England  had  taken  precautions  to  prevent  the  knowledge  of  the 
labor-saving  machines,  which  turned  out  fabrics  for  her,  from  being 
spread  abroad.  Very  little  was  known  about  them  here.  There 
was  not  an  Arkwright  machine  in  this  country,  although  Har- 
greaves'  jennies  and  carding  machines  had  been  smuggled  in.  Con- 
tinued attempts  were  made  by  Americans  to  secure  either  designs 
or  copies  of  the  English  machines,  even  by  underhand  methods. 

Tench  Coxe,  of  Philadelphia,  sent  an  English  mechanic,  then 
living  in  Philadelphia,  to  England  to  construct  brass  models  of  the 
Arkwright  machines,  and  to  ship  them  to  Paris,  where  the  American 
minister  would  reship  them  to  America.  But  his  scheme  was  dis- 
covered, the  models  seized  and  the  mechanic  was  bonded  not  to 
leave  England  for  three  years.  This  effort  was  repeated  at  another 
time,  but  the  models  were  seized  in  transit.  In  some  instances 
English  machines  were  taken  apart,  boxed  separately,  labelled 
Glass  or  Agricultural  Implements  and  reshipped  to  America.  Card 
Clothing,  in  one  case,  was  mounted  on  handles,  and  called  "Cards 
fnr  Cattle";  while  the  spindles  were  called  "Teeth  for  Horserakes." 

64 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


SITE  OF  OLD  GARRISON  HOUSE 
The  building  shown  here,  part  of  which  is  occupied  by  the  York  National   Bank  of 

Saco,  is  the  site  of  the  Old  Garrison  House.     The  garrison  house  was  built  by 

Sir  William  Pepperrell  and  his  associates  to  protect  their  mills  on  the  banks  of  the 

Saco  from  the  Indians. 

• 

In  1790  Samuel  Slater  constructed  Arkwright  machines  in 
Pawtucket.  Soon  after  1800  the  textile  industry  in  America  was 
an  established  fact. 


EARLY  INDUSTRIES  AT  SACO  AND  B1DDEFORD 

Down  through  the  years  when  Colonial  spinning  and  weaving 
were  in  use  and  the  early  textile  inventions  were  being  made,  the  voice 
of  the  Saco's  turbulent  waters  as  they  tumbled  in  precipitous  glee  over 
rocks  and  boulders,  sent  forth  its  challenge  to  men  of  brain  and 
brawn,  and  many  answered.  As  early  as  1650,  Roger  Spencer, 
a  prominent  business  man  of  the  town,  had  a  saw-mill  in  Biddeford. 
All  traces  of  these  early  industries  have  vanished.  On  the  site  now 
occupied  by  the  York  National  Bank  of  Saco,  were  found  not  lonjr 
ago  the  remains  of  an  old  garrison  house  erected  by  Sir  William 
Pepperrell  and  two  business  associates  for  the  protection  of  their  mills. 
Both  garrison  and  mills  have  long  since  crumbled  in  ruins.  The 
humble  industrial  plants  of  those  early  settlers  have  given  place 
to  great  modern  manufactories.  Where  the  "old  stone  fort"  once 
stood  on  the  banks  of  the  Saco  in  Biddeford,  are  now  located  some 
of  the  mills  of  the  Pepperell  Manufacturing  Company. 

This  immense  plant  now  extends  over  more  than  ten  acres  in 
the  business  centre  of  Biddeford,  which  is  a  thriving  little  city  with 

65 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


a  population  of  10,000,  a  large  percentage  of  which  are  foreign  born. 
The  mills  were  built  near  the  falls  on  the  Saco  River,  where  the 
water  from  the  upper  level  could  be  conducted  through  flumes  or 
canals  constructed  for  the  purpose,  and  passing  through  water- 
wheels,  would  cause  them  to  revolve  continually,  thus  furnishing 


FOLDERS  IN  CLOTH  ROOM 

Cloth  from  shearers  is  folded  in  yard  folds.     It  is  then  carefully  inspected  fold  In- 
fold in  order  to  find  any  possible  defects.  The  inspectors  are  seen  looking  DMT 
the  cuts  on  long  tables. 


power  at  much  less  cost  than  that  produced  from  steam  power  gen- 
erated by  the  burning  of  coal.  Steam  power  is  also  used  to  supple- 
ment the  water  power,  and  the  steam  is  needed  to  heat  the  mills  in 
winter,  and  for  some  special  processes  in  making  the  cloth. 

Nearly  one  hundred  years  ago  an  Amesbury  man  named  Rufus 
Nichols,  lured  by  the  call  of  the  Saco,  came  to  this  section  and  built 
a  shop  for  the  manufacture  of  cotton  mill  machinery.  Eleven 
years  later,  in  1838,  he  sold  out  to  the  newly  organized  Saco  Water 
Power  Company  which  then  owned  the  mill  privileges.  Thomur^ 
Quimby,  a  civil  engineer,  was  elected  clerk  of  this  company  in  1841 
and  held  the  office  for  many  years. 

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The  company  soon  opened  a  shop  on  the  Biddeford  side  of  the 
river  for  the  manufacture  of  cotton  mill  machinery,  and  made 
Rufus  Nichols  its  agent.  The  advantage  of  having  a  nearby  market 
for  this  machinery  soon  became  apparent.  With  this  idea  in  view 
the  Saco  Water  Power  Company  built  the  Laconia  Company,  making 
Rufus  Nichols  the  agent  of  this  also.  The  first  Laconia  mill,  a  small 
brick  building,  was  erected  in  1845.  A  small  number  of  textile 
workers,  most  of  whom  were  Yankee  girls,  were  employed  here. 

In  the  list  of  regulations  issued  by  the  Laconia  Company  for 
their  employees  in  the  early  days,  was  the  following: 

"  It  is  expected  that  all  persons  in  the  employment  of  the  Company 
will  be  regular  in  their  attendance  upon  public  worship  on  the 
Sabbath." 

Such  a  ruling  would  be  difficult  to  find  in  a  list  of  instructions 
for  the  employees  of  any  industry  at  the  present  time! 

Encouraged  by  the  success  of  the  Laconia  mill,  the  Saco  Water 
Power  Company  was  led  to  build  the  larger  Pepperell  Manufacturing 
Company  which  later  absorbed  the  Laconia  Company.  This  move 
was  made,  however,  during  a  business  depression,  and  the  mill 
remained  idle  for  two  years.  In  1850,  William  Dwight  of  Boston 
bought  the  Pepperell  Mills  and  organized  the  company,  becoming 
its  first  treasurer,  in  Boston,  and  the  venture  now  proved  a  great 
success. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  company  only  Yankees  were  employed. 
Girls  came  from  all  parts  of  Maine  and  New  Hampshire.  Fred 
Greene,  an  old  resident,  of  Biddeford,  who  went  to  work  in  the  Pep- 
perell in  1858,  and  was  for  many  years  overseer  in  the  weave  room, 
tells  of  the  long  boarding  house  blocks  where  these  girls  lived,  like  one 
big  family.  They  went  to  the  mill  early  in  the  morning  and  worked 
all  day,  returning  to  their  tasks  after  supper.  They  received  small 
wages  but  were  happy  and  contented.  In  the  summer  they  generally 
returned  to  their  homes,  so  that  the  mills  were  compelled  to  partially 
shut  down  during  this  period. 

The  coming  of  the  French  Canadian  people  to  work  in  the  mills 
was  a  great  boon  to  the  industry,  for  they  are  considered  by  mill 
officials  to  be  most  ideal  cotton  mill  workers.  For  thirty  years  the 
majority  of  the  employees  were  of  this  nationality  and  even  today 
a  large  percentage  are  French.  The  mills  of  the  Pepperell  Manu- 
facturing Company  now  give  employment  to  nearly  four  thousand 
operatives  of  many  nationalities,  including  French,  Armenians, 
Albanians,  Greeks,  Poles  and  others  from  Southern  Europe.  It  is 
not  unusual  to  see  entire  families  represented  in  the  various  rooms. 

From  1899  the  date  of  the  consolidation  of  the  Laconia  Manu- 
facturing Company  and  Pepperell  Manufacturing  Company  under 

69 


Till-.  orADRANCLK  OF  THE  PEPPERELL  DIVISION   SHOWING   SOME 
OF  THE  EMPLOYEES 


FIRST  AID  TO  THE  INJURED  ROOM  AT  THE  PEPPERELL  MILL 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


the  name  of  the  Pepperell  Manufacturing  Company  to  January  i, 
1915,  a  period  of  about  sixteen  years,  there  were  manufactured  at 
these  mills,  1,030,604,502  yards  or  585,570  miles  of  cloth,  enough  to 
circumnavigate  the  earth  twenty-three  and  a  half  times.  Thirty- 
four  percent  of  the  cloth  produced  during  this  period  was  drill's, 
which  are  especially  popular  in  China.  Allowing  ek'ht  jrarda  to  J 
person,  enough  of  this  material  was  manufactured  to  clothe  44, 1 7 1, 629 
Chinese  with  one  suit  each,  or  2,766,726^  Chinese  a  year. 

In  a  report  to  the  Department  of  Commerce,  1916,  on  "Cotton 
Goods  in  China,"  Ralph  M.  Odell,  commercial  agent  for  the  I'nited 
States  Government,  says,  "The  'Dragon'  chop  (or  trade  mark)  of 
the  Pepperell  Mills  commands  the  highest  price  because  of  its  good 
quality  and  the  fact  that  it  has  been  in  the  market  for  many  j 
and  is  a  well-known  chop." 

"The  'Beaver/  one  of  the  most  common  chops  seen  on  the  Chinese 
market,  was  taken  from  the  original  'Beaver'  chop  of  the  Pepperell 
Mills.  The  brand  on  the  outside  fold  below  the  chop  usually  consists 
of  seven  lines  of  lettering.  This  is  not  due  to  a  coincidence  but  to 
the  fact  that  the  Chinese  demand  it  because  the  jeans  which  have 
been  on  the  market  longest  and  are  most  widely  sold  are  branded 
in  this  manner.  Other  jeans  in  the  market,  however,  have  live, 
six  or  eight  lines  of  lettering." 

So  it  is  that,  although  there  is  no  registration  or  protection  of 
trade  marks  in  China,  the  Chinese  merchant  has  learned  to  count 
the  number  of  lines  under  this  particular  brand,  for  it  is  a  pretty 
safe  guess  that  no  other  manufacturer  will  have  the  exact  number 
of  lines  used  on  the  goods  which  he  has  come  to  recognize  as  standing 
for  superiority  and  reliability. 

Not  only  in  China,  but  in  far-away  India  are  the  Pepperell  prod- 
ucts found.  In  another  report,  "  Cotton  Goods  in  British  India,  191 S," 
Ralph  M.  Odell  says:  "The  grey  drills  supplied  by  the  United  States 
consist  almost  entirely  of  the  well-known  Pepperell  brand,  manu- 
factured by  a  mill  in  Maine,  and  they  have  been  sold  in  India  for 
many  years.  In  the  opinion  of  some  of  the  prominent  importers 
in  India,  it  is  one  of  the  largest  selling  brands  of  cotton  goods  in  the 
world,  and  is  considered  a  staple  article  in  the  piece-goods  trade  of 
India.  The  natives  buy  it  partly  because  they  are  familiar  with 
the  brand,  but  mainly  because  its  high  quality  has  been  maintained 
over  a  long  period  of  years." 

Why  does  the  intelligent  American  housewife  who  understands 
the  texture  of  goods,  pick  out  the  Pepperell  products  when  she  is 
selecting  her  sheets  and  pillow  cases?     Because  the  sheeting,  sin 
pillow  cases  and  tubings  which  bear  the  Pepperell  label,  and  which 
are  sold  under  that  label  alone,  are  so  made  that   for  the  cost   they 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


are  the  most  serviceable  and  best  appearing  of  any  on  the  market. 
Owing  to  the  superior  grade  of  cotton  used  and  to  the  number  of 
threads  woven  to  the  square  inch,  Pepperell  goods  are  most  flexible, 
stand  up  best  under  the  wear  of  hard  laundering,  and  yet  are  light 
and  easy  to  wash.  They  keep  their  whiteness.  In  every  respect 
IVpperell  products  meet  the  desires  of  the  fastidious  housekeeper. 
They  are  appropriate  in  houses  of  taste  and  refinement,  where  a 
well-made  bed  with  snow-white  sheets  and  pillow  cases  is  as  essential 
as  a  correctly  set  table  with  its  fine  linen  and  silver;  and  yet  they 
stand  up  and  give  perfect  satisfaction  under  the  exacting  require- 
ments of  hospital,  sleeping  car  and  hotel  uses.  Pepperell  has  been 
a  standard  family  sheeting  for  over  two  generations.  Its  low  cost, 
ai tractive  appearance,  and  great  wearing  qualities  make  it  the  great- 
est bargain  of  them  all. 

Thus  is  the  name  of  Sir  William  Pepperrell  carried  into  all  parts 
nl  the  world — into  countries  where  the  old  baronet  was  never  heard 
of.  But  just  as  the  very  name  of  Colonel  Pepperrell  inspired  the 
colonists  with  courage  and  hope  during  those  troublesome  years  of 
war  and  anxiety,  so  does  the  Pepperell  brand  of  cotton  goods  carry 
with  it  a  guarantee  of  reliability  and  satisfaction  today. 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


MADE-UP  SIZES 

OF  PEPPEREI 

,L  BLEACHED  GOODS 

PILLOW  CASES 

BOLSTER  CASES 

SHEETS        C'KIH 

SHEETS 

42  x  36 

42  x  63^ 

50  x  90               42 

x  <q 

x  38^ 

x  671/2 

^-1  x  90 

x68 

x  4o>_; 

X   72 

.x  '/V  , 

x  73 

45  x  36 

x  7(>  '  a 

X  91  y 

x  77 

x8i 

X    IDS                 4- 

xf>4 

x40>^ 

45  x  63y2 

63  x  90 

X  oS 

5°  x  36 

x  67  X 

x  94  1A 

x  73 

x  38^ 

X  72 

x  99 

X77 

x  40^2 

x  76^2 

X   IOS                  ^o 

x  73 

54x36 

x  381/2 

x  81 

sox  63^ 

72  x  90 
*94^          ^ 

X77 
x  73 

x  40  '  \ 

x67'. 

X99 

x  77 

X  72 

x  108 

X  7(1'  .' 

X    11] 

x  Si 

8  1  x  90 

54  x  63^ 

X941.' 

x  673/2 

x99 

X  72 

X   IOS 

x  76*^" 

x  113 

x8i 

90  x  90 

x  94//2 

X99 

X    IOS 

x  1  1  3 

PEPPERELL  WIDE  SIIEET1NCS 
come  in  I  IK-  following  widths: 

UNBLEACHED         BLEACHED         PEPPERELL  BLEACHED  TI-BIN<; 

comes  in  the  following  widths 


42" 

9/8 

42" 

45" 

5/4 

45" 

48" 

50" 

5°" 

'6/4 

54" 

6/4 

54" 

60" 

7/4 

63" 

8/4 

72" 

8/4 

72" 

9/4 

81" 

9/4 

81" 

10/4 

90" 

10/4 

90" 

1  1/4 

99" 

1  1/4 

99" 

12/4 

108" 

4o 
42 


inch 


73 


The  ROMANCE  of  PEPPERELL 


SHEETINGS 


F.vrjy  pirce  of  IVppt'rrll  Wide  Sheetings  and  Pepperell  Tubings,  without  excep- 
tion, carries  this  ticket.     Do  not  accept  substitutes. 


Wholesale  Distributors 

BLISS  FABYAN  &  CO. 

BOSTON     NEW  YORK     CHICAGO 

U.  S.  A. 


74 


The  ROMANCE  of  ?PJE&KRKl.L  0 


.  •       VW  »~W--T 

••!N£  ".:_"".;•" 
;    SHEETINGS 


This  represents  in  miniature  the  Pepperell  Sheetings  as  you  will  see 
them  in  the  store. 

Wholesale  Distributors 

BLISS    FABYAN   &    CO. 

BOSTON      NEW  YORK      CHICAGO 

U.  S.  A. 


of  PEPPERELL 


TRADE  MARK  REGISTERED 


PEPPERELL  MILLS 
BIDDEFORD 


MANUFACTURED  IN 
UNITED  STATES  OF  AM  ERICA 


me  reppereii  standard  IJnll  snowing  the  repperell 
Dragon  trade  mark,  which  is  as  well  known  in  India  and 

China  as  it  is  in  the  United  States.  It  represents  the  Standard  of 
Excellence  of  all  Cotton  Goods  exported  from  the  United 

States  to  these  countries.     The  Sun  never  sets  on  Pepperell  Products. 

Wholesale  Distributors 
BLISS  FABYAN  &  CO.    BOSTON    NEW  YORK    CHICAGO     U.  S.  A. 

76 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY", 
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MAR  101923 


RECTD  LD 

HAY  2  0*64 -6PM 


20w-l,"22 


4GG50B 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


